More Than a Dream
by Thalia Grace DaughterofZeus13
Summary: Sequel to With You by My Side. Season six rewrite. After Buffy is brought back from the dead, she and Angel struggle to deal with everything life has to throw at them, including a surprise no one was expecting.
1. Bargaining Part 1

**Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen! And welcome to the third volume of my Bangel story. This story will be season 6 of Buffy, and I'm happy to say I have added some excitement to their relationship for this year. But first, of course, Buffy must be brought back from the dead. A recap of the past two years:**

**At the end of season 4, Angel asked Buffy to marry him. She said yes.**

**Angel and Oz are friends, so Oz still appears once and a while, even though he no longer lives in Sunnydale and Willow is with Tara now.**

**Angel also has friends in L.A. (Doyle, Cordelia, Wesley, Gunn, Lorne, and starting in this story, Fred) who also appear sometimes.**

**Dawn and Angel get along pretty well. Angel thinks of her as a little sister and she reminds him of his sister from when he was human, Kathy. Likewise, Dawn thinks of Angel as an older brother.**

**Spike is not in love with Buffy. He does have a sort of love/hate friendship with both her and Angel, however.**

**Buffy and Angel were engaged all through season five and were planning a nice wedding. Buffy died at the end of the story to save Dawn, though, before the wedding.**

**Chapter/episode 1: Bargaining, Part 1 **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer**

_ Angel turned to look at the dark sky, knowing it was becoming lighter every moment, waiting for the sun to appear. "Please, Buffy. I have to do this."_

_ Buffy stood behind him, crying. "What about me?" she screamed. "I love you so much…and I tried to make you go away…I killed you and it didn't help. And I hate it! I hate that it's so hard…and that you can hurt me so much. I know everything that you did, because you did it to me! Oh, god!" she sobbed. "I wish that I wished you dead. I don't. I can't."_

_ "Please!" Angel shouted suddenly. "Please, just this once, let me be strong."_

_ Buffy looked at him, her eyes angry and sad. "Strong is fighting!" she shouted. "It's hard, and it's painful, and it's every day. It's what we have to do. And we can do it together. But if you're too much of a coward for that, then burn. If I can't convince you that you belong in this world, then I don't know what can. But do not expect me to watch. And don't expect me to mourn for you, because…" she trailed off and looked around. Angel did the same. It was snowing. It had been warm a few minutes before, but now snow was falling. The sun wasn't coming._

_ Angel looked at her, tears in his eyes. She smiled at him and took his hand. "I told you that you belonged here." She whispered. They held hands and walked down the hill. They walked together, hand in hand, into town and watched the snow fall around them. It was perfect. Buffy turned to him and kissed him. _

Angel opened his eyes. It was still dark outside. He was lying in bed in Buffy's old room, where he still slept even though she was gone. He closed his eyes again and tried to hold onto the memory he'd just been dreaming about.

It had been going on since Buffy had died. Whenever he went to sleep, he dreamed about her. Sometimes it was reliving memories, like the one he'd just been having. Other times he dreamed she came to him. Sometimes they talked, sometimes they…did something other than talking, and sometimes they did one and then the other. While they were happening, they seemed like nice dreams, because no matter what he was always with her. But once he woke up, he knew they were nightmares. Because it was just a constant reminder that he was never going to have that again. She was gone forever, and he'd never get to spend time with her ever again.

He sighed, tears in his eyes, rolled over, and tried to go back to sleep.

**00000000ooooooo000000000**

Willow, Tara, and Giles were in the kitchen of the Summers house. They were making breakfast. Someone knocked on the door. "Probably Xander and Anya." Tara said, going to answer the door. Sure enough, she returned at moment later with Xander and Anya.

"Morning." Giles said.

"Have you seen Dawn or Angel yet today?" Xander asked.

"Nope." Willow replied. "Probably soon, though."Xander nodded and went to help Willow.

"Willow, how is the Buffybot doing?" Giles asked.

"Good. I think I've almost worked out all the kinks." Willow replied. "Angel still doesn't like it."

"Well can you blame him?" Xander asked. "I don't really like it either."

Suddenly the back door was thrown open and something smoking ran inside. Spike tossed off the cover blanket he was wearing. "Bloody Hell." He gasped.

"What are you doing here?" Xander asked.

"Same thing you are." Spike answered. "We all know why today is different."

"Hey guys." Dawn walked into the kitchen. "I see everybody showed up today."

"Morning Dawnie." Willow said, handing her a plate of breakfast. "Did you see Angel up there?"

"No." Dawn replied.

"He never sleeps this late." Tara said.

"Yes but…today is…well it's today." Willow pointed out.

"Yeah." Dawn said quietly. "It's today. To think just a couple of months ago we expected today to be really happy."

"Well it's different now." Spike said.

"Angel's going to need us today." Tara said.

Then Anya spoke up, "But seriously, what makes it different from any other day of mourning he's had since she died?"

They all stared at her. "Anya," Xander said. "Think about it. Today was supposed to be the wedding. Wouldn't that make you just a little bit more depressed than usual?"

**00000000ooooooo00000000**

_ Buffy and Angel were in the cemetery. They were supposed to be patrolling and looking for a demon but they weren't doing anything of the sort. They were making out. "We really should be fighting vampires." Angel mumbled._

_ "Probably." Buffy agreed, finally pulling away. "Actually, I should probably go home. We're doing this stupid project in health class. We have to carry around an egg and pretend it's a baby. Like I'll ever have kids. I mean, it's not like I've never thought about it…"_

_ Angel was uncomfortable. "I can't."_

_ "Oh." Buffy said. "Oh. Well, I knew there were some things vampires can't do…but whatever. I don't care."_

_ "Don't you ever think about the future?" _

_ Buffy looked him in the eyes. "Angel, when I look into the future, all I see is you. All I want is you."_

_ "I know the feeling." Angel replied. _

Angel woke up again. He didn't want to go back to sleep. He didn't want to dream again. It was late enough. He got out of bed.

**00000000ooooooo00000000**

"Hey guys." Angel said, walking into the kitchen, which was still full of people.

"Morning Peaches." Spike said.

"We got you some blood." Tara said, handing him the cup of pigs blood she'd warmed up.

"Thanks Tara." Angel said.

"How are you Angel?" Willow asked.

"Isn't it a nice day?" Xander asked. Then he frowned. "I mean, not too nice, of course, because today is sad-" Willow elbowed him "But we shouldn't be all depressed or anything, because Buf-uh, I mean…I'll shut up now." He sighed.

"Guys, I know what you're doing." Angel said. "Buffy and I were supposed to get married today. And it's hard…but I'm going to be fine."

"Are you sure?" Spike asked.

Angel stared at him. "Since when do you care?"

Spike shrugged. "I know you loved the girl, and I know today was supposed to be the best day of your life. Even I know that's going to hurt you."

Angel shook his head. "Miracles do happen." He said.

"Just remember that we're all here for you." Tara said.

Angel was about to respond when there was a knock on the door. "Who's here?" Spike asked. "You don't know anyone who's not in this room." Tara shook her head and went to answer the door.

"Hello?" she said as she opened it. She was surprised by who she found. "Oz?"

"Hi Tara." Oz said.

"What are you doing here?"

"I thought Angel might need a friend today." Oz answered. Tara smiled and let him in.

"Look who's here!" she called.

"Oz?" Angel said when he saw him.

"Hey Angel." Oz said. "Hey guys."He hugged Willow and sat down next to Angel. "I thought maybe you would need me today."

Angel sighed. "Seriously guys, I'll be fine." He insisted. But deep down he knew it wasn't true.

The last few months had been awful. It was hard for Angel to get through a day without her. Everything seemed to remind him of her and how she was gone forever. He was trying to keep his promise to her, to protect everyone like he said he would. He was training harder and patrolling longer. He often beat his victims to a bloody pulp, but that was really just how he expressed his feelings. He refused to patrol with the Buffybot. He hated it. It was a fake Buffy, a copy of his girl. Buffy would always be his girl, and the Buffybot was a fake, an insult. But he knew it was necessary, so he allowed it. But he refused to patrol with it.

On top of it all, they'd had to cancel everything for the wedding. The hardest part had been getting the word out to the guests. Luckily, they hadn't invited that many people, but it still been hard to have to explain to everyone they'd invited what happened. The others had helped Angel out however they could.

At first, Angel had pretty much closed off. He rarely spoke to anyone, and when he did, it was brief and flat, emotionless. He had stayed in his and Buffy's room most of the time, and only left to eat, train, and patrol. The others had started to worry. Then, Willow put her foot down. It was after it had been her turn to patrol with Angel (he always took one person with him, they took turns) and they had found a nest of demons. It hadn't been a huge nest, and they were stupid demons, so they hadn't been hard to kill. Willow had gotten a whole bunch, and then turned to see Angel beating the last demon senseless against the wall. He beat it until its head came off with one last punch, and then he slide to his knees, crying. Willow had known then that he was being affected more than he showed.

Truthfully, it had scared her. She had never seen Angel completely lose control like that. She had taken him home and from that point on, they all checked on him. They forced him to talk, to open up a little. He had made a small improvement, though he still had a long way to go.

Today was the almost-wedding day, though, and they all knew that no matter what he said, he'd need them.

After breakfast they all scattered around the house. Angel tried to go back upstairs, but Spike and Oz had gotten him to come to the living room and talk. Angel and Spike had developed an odd sort of friendship (Spike certainly took an interest in helping Angel when Willow had asked him), though neither of them would ever admit it.

After about half an hour, someone knocked on the door again. "Who could it be now?" Tara asked. Dawn went to answer it this time.

"Hey Dawnie." Cordelia said when she opened the door. Behind Cordelia were Doyle, Wesley, Gunn, and a new girl named Fred.

"Hi." Dawn said in surprise. "Come in. Angel, I think they're here to see you."

"Guys?" Angel said.

"We don't know anyone, huh?" Tara asked, grinning at Spike, who rolled his eyes.

"Gee, Peaches," he said, "And you said you didn't have any friends."

"I never said that. What you guys doing here?" Angel asked.

"If I had to guess," Oz said "I'd say the same thing I am."

"You didn't really think we'd let you go through this alone, did you?" Wesley asked.

"No matter what you say, we know you hurt." Cordelia said. "Buffy died. You loved her, and she died, and you couldn't save her. You need your friends. We feel we qualify."

Angel gave them a small smile. "Thanks."

"What are friends for?" Gunn asked. "Oh, this is Fred, the girl we told you about."

"Hi." Fred said cautiously.

The rest of the Scoobies had wandered into the room. Cordelia looked around. "Looks like we got a party. A really depressing party."

"I think the point is to make it less depressing." Oz pointed out.

Dawn was standing in the corner. She looked at the room. Buffy would have loved sitting around talking with all her friends, just like they were now. But she was gone.

**00000000ooooooo00000000**

_"Angel?"_

_ Angel looked up from where he was sitting on the bed. "Buffy."_

_ Buffy smiled and stepped forward. "Of course it's me. Were you expecting somebody else?" she sat down next to him and kissed him._

_ "I miss you." Angel said. "I miss you so much."_

_ Buffy smiled sadly at him. "I miss you too, sweetie." Angel put his arm around her and let himself absorb every detail of her. She continued to talk to him. "How is everyone doing?"_

_ "Everyone's fine. Oz and the guys from L.A. are here." He paused. "Do you remember what today is?"_

_ Buffy gave him a look. "Please, I'm dead, not stupid. Of course I remember. Happy wedding day."_

_ Angel had to smile. "Happy wedding day. I wish we were getting married."_

_ "In my mind we have been for ages." Buffy sighed. They kissed again. "I can't stay, honey. You know that."_

_ Angel ran his hand through her hair and kissed her softly on the cheek. "I know."_

_ "I wish I could stay."_

_ "So do I."_

_ "I love you, Angel. I will always love you. Never forget that."_

_ "I won't."_

_ She kissed him one last time. "Goodbye, Angel." She whispered._

Angel woke up. It was still happening, all the time. He was in his room, and he'd only been asleep for a few minutes. Yet he still was dreaming about her.

It wasn't that he didn't want to see her. The problem was that he wanted the real her. This dream version was just torturing him. He couldn't have the real Buffy, so he didn't want the fake one.

Angel was still in his bedroom when someone knocked. "Come in." Oz entered, shutting the door behind him. "Hi Oz." Angel said.

Oz looked around. "You didn't change the room at all."

"Of course I didn't. It was her room."

Oz nodded. "I was just talking to the investigators. We're all going to stay as long as you want us."

"I appreciate the gesture, but-"

"Ah!" Oz said, cutting him off. "I know you're going to stay you don't need us. But we're going to stay anyway."

Before Buffy had died, he would've laughed. Now he couldn't even smile.

**0000000ooooooo0000000**

Oz came back downstairs into the living room. Tara, Spike, and Wesley were all in the living room, and looked up when he came in. "How is he?" Wesley asked.

"He could be better." Oz sighed, sitting down on the couch.

"He's in a lot of pain." Tara said quietly. "He tries to hide it, but we know he is. I think you guys are doing him a huge favor by staying for a while."

"It's no trouble at all." Wesley said. "We knew he'd need us."

"The question is," Spike spoke up, "Is this something he's going to get over? I mean, before the end of the century?"

"Well that's our goal." Oz said.

Tara sighed. Then she got up and hurried upstairs and into the room she shared with Willow. Inside she found Willow, Xander, and Anya. "Oz just talked to Angel. He's pretty upset."

"Of course he is." Willow said. "That's why we're going to help him."

"Willow," Xander said seriously, "Are you sure we can do this? I mean, this is serious stuff. We're talking about bringing someone back from the dead."

"Yes." Willow responded fiercely. "We can do this. We have to."

"Should we tell any of them?" Anya asked. "Any of the others?"

Willow shook her head. "Spike can't keep a secret, Oz and Giles will object, Cordy, Doyle, Wes, Gunn, and Fred will probably tell Angel, and I don't want to tell Angel and Dawn because…" she faltered. "Because losing Buffy is hardest on them. And we can't be 100% sure that this will work. I don't want to get their hopes up, and then have it not work, because it would feel like losing her all over again. And I don't want either of them to go through that."

The others nodded. "So we won't tell anyone." Tara said. "When can we do this?"

"Soon." Willow said. "Really soon."

**00000000ooooooo00000000**

**A few weeks later**

_Buffy and Angel walked into the mansion, hand-in-hand. "I can't believe we did it." Buffy said. She was smiling broadly, and Angel had to smile too._

_ "It is pretty amazing. I was starting to think we'd finally met our match."_

_ Buffy laughed. "Oh, come on. Adam was a science experiment that was barely alive for a few months. You're a vampire who's been alive…so to speak…for two-hundred and forty four years. Adam never stood a chance."_

_ "I'm just glad we're not fighting anymore." Angel said quietly. Buffy gave him a small smile and kissed him._

_ "I'm sorry about everything I said." She told him._

_ "I'm sorry too." Angel replied. "The more I think about it, the less I can believe I actually fell for Spike's lies."_

_ "Then stop thinking about it." Buffy said._

_ "Hm. I just don't like it when we fight."_

_ "Well we're not fighting anymore, are we?" Buffy asked. She kissed him, and Angel didn't think it was possible to be happier than he was at that moment._

Angel woke up in tears again. If this didn't stop soon, he was going to go mad.

**00000000ooooooo0000000**

Angel walked into the magic shop. "Giles?" he called.

Giles looked up. "Angel. I was just packing up some things for my trip back to England."

"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about." Angel said, walking over to him. "I don't think you should go yet." Giles gave him an odd look. "I'm not saying you have to stay forever, just for a little while longer. The Scoobies…they're going to need you. Buffy wasn't the only one who looked to you for guidance. I think you should stay for a couple more weeks and make sure they're ready to do this alone." He looked at the Watcher. "It is the Hellmouth, Giles."

Giles considered this. "Perhaps you're right." He finally sighed.

"So you'll stay?"

"For a short while longer."

Angel nodded, satisfied. "I should probably…"

"How are you?" Giles asked. Angel had to think about it.

"I guess I'm ok. I take it one day at a time. The others have helped."

"Are Oz and the investigators still here?"

"Yes, believe it or not, they are."

Giles smiled a little. "They care about you. It's completely believable."

Angel nodded. "They've been helping with Dawn, too. They're coming over tonight to help me and Spike look after her. I'm not patrolling tonight."

Giles nodded slowly. "Perhaps…would you mind if I joined you?"

Angel was surprised. "No, not at all, you can come if you like."

"Thank you. I want to keep myself busy."

"Of course, come by tonight."

**0000000oooooooo0000000**

Angel, Giles, Dawn, Spike, Oz, Cordelia, Doyle, Wesley, Gunn, and Fred were all at the Summers's house. Willow, Xander, Anya, and Tara had gone on patrol that night.

Angel, Cordelia, and Dawn were playing cards in the living room. Wesley, Oz, and Spike were in the kitchen, eating (or in Spike's case, drinking). Doyle and Gunn were practicing in the basement, and Fred and Giles were watching TV.

"I win again." Cordelia said.

"Whatever." Dawn sighed. Cordelia frowned. She had been spending all of her energy trying to cheer up Angel and Dawn. She had made no progress. She understood what they were feeling, of course. Buffy had meant the world to both of them, and she died. Of course they were unhappy. But this was just unhealthy.

"Do you guys want to play again?" she asked.

Angel shrugged. "I guess." He said without enthusiasm.

Cordelia could see his lack of feeling for it. "Or we could join Doyle and Gunn downstairs?" No response. "Or go to the kitchen with Wes, Oz, and Spike?"

"Whatever you want to do." Angel said. Cordelia lost it.

"Damn it, Angel!" she said, standing up and slamming her fist on the table. Fred and Giles looked up. "Do you really think Buffy would want you to spend the rest of eternity brooding over her death? No, of course she wouldn't! She wanted you to keep helping people, both of you, but you just sit around all day wallowing in your misery! Well, let me tell you something, Deadboy," she leaned forward, "It ends now."

Suddenly there was a loud noise from outside. Cordy turned and looked at the door. Angel, Dawn, Fred, and Giles stood up. Wes, Spike, and Oz ran in from the kitchen. "Did you hear-" Wesley began.

"Yeah." Angel said. He stepped forward and looked out the window. Spike came up behind him and looked as well.

"Oh no." they said together.

"What?" Cordelia asked.

"Get Doyle and Gunn from downstairs." Angel said. "Now!" Cordelia ran downstairs.

"Angel, what's going on?" Wes asked. Angel pointed out the window. Wes and the others looked and saw demons on motorcycles destroying the street. Wes's eyes got big. "But the only go to places they feel are…vulnerable…" he trailed off and looked at Angel.

"They know." Angel said. Cordelia came back with Doyle and Gunn. "We have to get out of here." Angel said. "Everybody out the back door!" Everybody moved for the kitchen. Wesley was the first one there. He threw the door open and held it for everybody else to run out.

"Go, go!" he shouted, slamming the door shut when everyone was out and running after them.

A demon ran across the yard, heading straight for them. It tried to attack Angel, giving him a nasty scratch across his face. Angel kicked it away, grabbed its head, and snapped its neck. "You ok?" Oz asked. Angel nodded. They started running again. Suddenly Angel slowed down, and then stopped completely.

"Angel?" Wes asked, looking at him with concern.

"Buffy." Angel said. He suddenly had a huge urge to go to her grave. He couldn't explain it, but he knew he had to be there. He had to go _now_. "Keep Dawn safe, I'll catch up with you guys." He turned and started heading in the other direction.

"Angel!" Cordelia yelled. But he was already gone.

_To Be Continued…_

**So for this story, I'm editing my updating schedule just a little. I'm going to try to update every other day. I think that should make it a lot easier to meet my deadlines. So the next chapter should be online by Tuesday. Please review! **


	2. Bargaining Part 2

**Chapter/episode 2: Bargaining, part 2.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy the vampire slayer**

_Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer…_

_ "You ok?" Oz asked. Angel nodded. They started running again. Suddenly Angel slowed down, and then stopped completely._

_ "Angel?" Wes asked, looking at him with concern. _

_ "Buffy." Angel said. He suddenly had a huge urge to go to her grave. He couldn't explain it, but he knew he had to be there. He had to go _now._ "Keep Dawn safe, I'll catch up with you guys." He turned and started heading in the other direction._

_ "Angel!" Cordelia yelled. But he was already gone._

Angel ran all the way to the graveyard. He couldn't explain to himself why it was so important to be there. Buffy was dead. It wasn't like there was anything he could do about that. But he just knew he needed to be there.

But he did know as soon as he arrived at Buffy's grave. He let out a cry. The dirt was tossed over and there was a large hole. Looking closer, he saw something had destroyed the coffin. Like something had clawed its way out.

"Buffy." Angel whispered. His mind was spinning. Buffy was dead. As miserable as he was because of this, he had accepted it as true. But this…what was this?

He stepped forward to get a closer look, and something cracked under his foot. He looked down and picked up what he had stepped on. He recognized it immediately. It was a broken urn of Osiris.

Willow.

Willow and the others had brought Buffy back from the dead. Angel growled angrily and hurled the urn at a tree. What were they thinking? What had they done?

He had to find Buffy. It was dangerous out there right now, and she was probably very confused. He knew her scent well enough to track her through the chaos. He left the graveyard.

**00000000ooooooo00000000**

"Where could he have been going?" Cordelia asked as the hurried through a back alley behind a building, trying to avoid the demons.

"I'm sure he'll be fine." Doyle said, looking around nervously. "I'm honestly more worried about _us_."

"Where did Spike go?" Wesley asked suddenly. Everyone looked around, but Spike had vanished.

"Great." Cordelia cried. "Now we've lost Spike."

"Motorcycle!" Oz yelled suddenly. Everyone whirled around, ready for a fight but were surprised to find Spike was riding.

"I found us faster transport." Spike said.

"We won't all fit on that one motorcycle." Wesley pointed out.

"Well _duh_." Spike said. "There are more motorcycles around the corner. Not enough for everyone to have their own, but enough that we can double up and be fine. I believe _you _know how to ride a motorcycle?" he added to Wesley.

"Um, yes." Wesley said, flustered. "I do. Where are they?"

Spike led them around the corner, where a bunch of the bikes had been left. Dawn got on Spike's and the led the way. "We've got to find Angel!" Wesley yelled from behind them.

"Right." Spike agreed. "This way, stick together!" They sped off down the road.

**00000000ooooooo00000000**

Buffy wandered through the town in a daze. She didn't know where she was, or how she had ended up there. It was so different from where she'd been. There was fire and chaos here…what happened? She was terrified.

She walked down a street and stopped when she saw several of the demons. They were about to destroy something…it was a moment before Buffy could see who. It was…_her._ It looked just like her. The other her looked straight at her before she was pulled to pieces. Buffy screamed and ran in the other direction.

She didn't stop running until she ran into the leader of the demons. He grinned when he saw her. "The Slayer…or should I say, the robot." He stepped toward her.

Frightened, Buffy's fighting instincts kicked in. She punched the demon and flipped him over. She kicked him. He was clearly caught off guard. She continued to beat him up until she shoved him into a sharp edge of broken debris. The demon fell to the gourd, dead. Buffy stepped back, still frightened by it. She looked around desperately, until something caught her attention.

It was the tower that people controlled by Glory had built last year. The tower she had jumped off the top of the save the world. The tower where she'd died. She remembered it. Maybe if she returned there, she could go back to where she'd been before.

She started towards the tower.

**000000000oooooooo000000000**

"Look!" Cordelia cried, pointing up the road from where they were. There was wreckage up ahead, and just visible were the remains of the Buffybot. They stopped.

"No hope of fixing it this time." Spike sighed. "It's trashed."

Dawn walked around and found the head of the Buffybot. It didn't seem to have stopped working yet. "Dawn." The Buffybot said. "There was another me. Where did the other me go?" then it died.

"Must have gone haywire, that didn't make a bit of sense." Spike said.

Dawn wasn't quite so sure, though. "_The other me…"_but that was crazy. Buffy was dead. Plain and simple. Then she remembered what Angel had said right before he ran off. "_Buffy"._ Could it be…?

Dawn turned around and ran down the street, ignoring the others calling her name and telling her to stop. She ran in the direction the Buffybot had been looking when she talked to her. She raced down the alleyway. She turned a corner…and ran right into Angel.

"Dawn, what are you doing?" Angel asked. "You were supposed to stay with the others." Thinking about it, though, he wasn't very surprised that she had left them to join him.

"The Buffybot." Dawn said, gasping for breath from running. "It broke down, but right before it did it told me it saw another her. And you said Buffy's name right before you ran off. Angel, what's going on?"

Angel looked at her and could tell he'd never get away with a lie. "I think Willow, Xander, Anya, and Tara might have brought Buffy back from the dead." He said.

Dawn's eyes widened. "Is that possible?"

"It's possible, but it's in no way a good idea. The next time I see Willow I am going to give her a piece of my mind, but now we have to find Buffy. Come on, you should stay with me." He looked up and down the alley when he noticed something. "Look at that." He grabbed Dawn's hand and they hurried up to a pile of debris and a demon corpse.

"Looks like he was shoved into that spike right there and killed." Dawn said, examining the body.

"There's only one person I know who has that kind of strength." Angel whispered.

Dawn looked around, and saw something that made her heart skip a beat. "Angel…"

"What?" Angel looked up and followed her gaze. The tower that Glory's possessed people had built last year, where Buffy had died, could be seen perfectly from where they were. "That's where she'll go." Angel said. "That last place she remembers being. Come on!"

**00000000oooooooo00000000**

Buffy had climbed to the top of the tower. She stood on the ledge that she had jumped off of the night she died and looked at the ground below her. She remembered jumping of, into the light below her…and then bliss… Maybe if she jumped again, she would go back.

"Buffy!"

Buffy turned and saw someone very familiar to her appear on the top of the tower behind her. She knew that she knew him. She couldn't help but feel like she trusted him.

"Buffy." He begged. "I know you're confused and upset. I know. But please don't jump. Please, come here, over to me." He tried to read her blank stare. "Buffy? Can you hear me?"

"Is this Hell?" Buffy whispered.

Angel almost broke down when he heard those words, but he pulled himself together. "No. I know it seems like it right now, but this is not Hell. I love you, Buffy. I love you."

Buffy saw a girl appear behind him. She knew her too…she felt she had been in this same position before…

And then the memories came pouring back. Buffy had stood in this exact spot, and he had stood in that one, and the girl had been behind him, as Buffy had said goodbye…

"Angel?" Buffy whispered. Angel's eyes lit up.

"Yes." He said softly. "It's me."

Tears filled Buffy's eyes. "Angel…I…I…" she ran into his arms.

"It's ok." Angel tried to sooth her. "It's ok. I'm here, you're safe."

"Angel." Dawn said uncertainly, looking around. "I hate to interrupt a moment like this, but this tower was built by crazy people and I'm not sure it's entirely stable."

As if on cue, the entire tower swayed. "We have to get off of this thing." Angel said. He kept one arm around Buffy and grabbed Dawn with his other hand. They rushed toward the stairs. Just before they got there, the staircase fell. Dawn screamed as she almost fell, Angel's grip on her arm the only thing keeping her on the platform.

"Now what?" she asked, looking frightened.

"Um…" Angel looked around hurriedly. The tower swayed again, and he had a crazy idea. "Hold on to me." He said. Dawn nodded hugged him, also holding onto Buffy's hand. Angel kept his arm around Buffy. "I promise you I know what I'm doing." He told Dawn. "Don't let go."

"Why, what are you going to…ahh!" Dawn screamed as Angel ran across the platform just as the tower was falling over and jumped, holding tightly onto her and Buffy. He took most of the fall, crashing to the ground with the girls landing on his back. It was uncomfortable, but all three of them were ok.

"Angel." Buffy whispered. "Dawn."

"Buffy." Dawn hugged her sister. "I missed you so much."

Buffy looked at Angel, dazed. "Angel, what…what happened?"

Angel looked at her sadly and wrapped his arms around her. "Awful things." He whispered truthfully. "Awful, horrible things."

**Sorry that one was so much shorter. I know that in the original the Scoobies actually find her on the streets, but I'm changing it so they find out from Angel in the next chapter. Please review!**


	3. After Life

**Chapter/episode 3: After Life. Even though this is a sad episode, I promise I've added some nice Buffy/Angel fluff that should make it better.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy.**

Angel and Dawn walked Buffy back to the house. Buffy was clinging to Angel's arm the entire time. Angel was relieved to find that Oz, Giles, Spike, and the Los Angeles investigators were back already. Willow, Tara, Xander and Anya were not. And oh, when they got back, Angel was going to have his way with them.

Dawn went inside first. "Dawn Summers!" Angel heard Cordelia yell. "You scared us half to death, running off like that! You could have been killed!"

Without a word, Angel walked in with Buffy. The room went deadly quiet.

"Buffy?" Oz finally whispered. Buffy looked at him with big eyes.

"My god." Wesley said, stunned. "Is it really her?"

"It's her." Angel growled. "She's still a little out of it."

Spike stepped forward cautiously. "Buffy? It's me, Spike. Do you remember?"

"Yes." Buffy said, softly but clearly. "I remember everything now…"

Angel looked at Giles. He was speechless, staring at her from his place standing next to the wall.

"What happened to her hands?" Cordelia asked, looking at Buffy's bloody hands.

"She had to claw herself out of her own grave." Angel said grimly. Doyle took in a sharp breath. "Could someone take her upstairs and bandage her hands and get her some fresh clothes?"

"I'll take her." Cordy offered.

"I'll go with her." Fred spoke up.

Angel looked at Buffy. "Can you go with Cordelia and Fred?"

"Yeah." Buffy said in the same soft voice. She followed Cordy and Fred upstairs.

"Angel, what happened?" Wesley asked as soon as they were gone.

"Where are the Scoobies?" Angel asked in a forced calm voice.

"They're not back yet." Spike said. "What's going on? How is Buffy back from the dead?"

Before Angel could answer, the door opened and Willow, Tara, Xander, and Anya walked in. Everybody was silent. They could sense this was something Angel needed to tell them about. "Is everyone ok?" Willow asked.

"Yes." Angel responded.

"Oh thank god." Willow sighed in relief.

Angel took a step forward and grabbed Willow by the collar of her shirt. "Angel!" Oz cried.

"What were you thinking, Rosenburg?" Angel yelled, dropping her to the ground.

"What are you talking about?" Willow demanded as Tara helped her up.

"You tried to bring Buffy back from the dead!" Angel shouted.

Tara gasped. Willow took a deep breath. "I'm sorry it didn't work."

"Sorry? Are you all really that stupid?"

Xander narrowed his eyes. "Now, look. We tried to do you a favor, and I'm sorry that it didn't work but-"

"Oh it worked all right!" Angel cut him off. Willow looked up.

"W-what do you mean?" she asked.

"I mean that Buffy is upstairs right now, getting her hands bandaged after clawing herself out of her coffin." Angel said coldly.

"It worked." Willow laughed. She kissed Tara suddenly. "It actually worked!"

"How could you do this to her?" Angel yelled. They all looked up in surprise.

"What do you mean?" Willow asked, frowning. "We saved her from Hell."

Angel could barely contain his anger. "Is that what this is about? Saving her from Hell?"

"Well you couldn't just expect us to leave her there!" Willow yelled, starting to get angry as well.

"What made you think she was in Hell?" Angel asked.

"Well where else would she be? She was killed by mystical energy from Hell!"

"It doesn't work like that, Willow." Angel said. "Buffy hasn't said much since she came back, but the first thing she said was to me. She said, 'Is this hell?'"

Tears formed in Willow's eyes as she realized what Angel was saying. "You mean…?"

"Buffy was in Heaven. You tore her out."

Willow burst into tears and fell to her knees. "What have we done?"

**Meanwhile**

Upstairs, Cordelia and Fred were with Buffy. "There." Cordelia said, finishing on Buffy's hands.

"Thank you Cordy." Buffy said quietly.

"No problem." Cordelia replied.

Fred handed Buffy some clothes she had dug out of the closet. Angel had refused to throw any of her stuff away. "Here, you can put these on."

"Thank you…" she looked up at Fred and frowned. "Maybe my brain's still a little fuzzy, but who are you again?"

"Oh, we've never met." Fred said quickly. "Doyle and Cordy and the others saved me from a hell dimension shortly after…" she trailed off. "I'm Fred."

"Hi." Buffy said. "I'm Buffy…but you knew that."

They could suddenly hear Angel's voice yelling angrily. "Uh oh." Cordelia said nervously. "Sounds like Willow's home."

"It was Willow, wasn't it?" Buffy asked quietly. "Willow did this."

"I'm sure she meant well, Buffy." Cordelia said gently.

"Yeah, Willow's doesn't seem like she'd hurt you on purpose." Fred added.

"Oh, I'm sure she had good intentions." Buffy said bitterly. "It's just like Willow. She couldn't let me go."

"I'm sure she'll feel horrible when she realizes she hurt you." Fred said.

"I almost don't want to tell her." Buffy admitted. "That's just going to hurt her. And I don't care if she hurt me, I don't want to hurt her."

"Well I don't think you have much of a choice." Cordelia said, biting her lip and craning her neck to see down the hall. "It sounds like Angel's losing it down there."

Buffy actually came pretty close to smiling. "That sounds like my Angel." She said. Then she frowned again. "I know he missed me. I know he was in pain."

"But he was strong." Cordelia assured her. "He did miss you like crazy, but he was strong through it."

"Of course he was." Buffy replied. "He wouldn't be Angel if he hadn't."

A few minutes later Angel walked in cautiously. "Buffy?"

"Hi Angel." Buffy said, still speaking softly.

"How do you feel?"

Buffy shook her head. "I don't know how to answer that. I mean…I guess I'm ok."

"Do you want to wait until morning to see anyone else?" he asked gently.

Buffy shook her head. "I'm ready. I suppose Willow's upset?"

Angel tensed, and Buffy could tell he was still furious with Willow. "Yes, she's very upset now that she knows what she's done. I wouldn't let that be the only reason you go down there, though. She doesn't deserve that. If you wanted to wait to see everyone, I'm sure no one would blame you."

"No, I want to see them." Buffy stood up and took Angel's hand. Angel nodded and led her out of the room, Cordelia and Fred following.

Everyone else looked up when Buffy and Angel walked in. Willow stood up from her place with Tara on the couch. Her face was streaked with tears, and at the sight of Buffy she started crying again. "Buffy." She sobbed. "I'm s-so s-s-sorry. I didn't know, I thought…I thought…oh goddess, I'm so sorry!" she wailed.

"We're all sorry, Buffy." Xander said quietly.

"Willow." Buffy let go of Angel's hand and walked over to Willow. "I know you didn't mean to hurt me."

"Of course I d-didn't." Willow said. "It was a stupid thing to do, I'm sorry. You have every right to hate me for the rest of eternity. I realize that saying sorry isn't going to fix anything, b-but I'll say it anyway. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"

"It was a mistake." Buffy said. "And…I won't pretend I'm not…upset. But…you meant well. And…just be more careful from now on, alright?"

Willow nodded. "Of course. I really am sorry."

"I know." Buffy stepped forward and hugged her friend. "It'll take some time, but I can get through this."

Buffy turned around, and her eyes landed on Spike. She walked over to him. "Thank you. Thank you for protecting my sister and helping Angel."

"No problem." Spike said. "And Buffy…I missed you too."

Buffy went up to Giles. They looked at each other for a moment. Then she hugged him.

Angel turned to look at everyone else. "Maybe it would be best if those who don't live here went home for the night." He said.

The others agreed. The Investigators and Oz went back to their hotel and told Angel they'd come by again tomorrow. Xander and Anya went home silently, without a word. Spike stopped to talk to Angel on his way out. "Is she going to be ok?" he asked, glancing at Buffy.

"She's doing better than I thought she'd be doing, but she's still definitely in pain. I don't know. I hope she'll be ok."

"I'm sorry this happened to her." Spike said quietly. "She didn't deserve it. I'll see you tomorrow." He left.

Giles was the last to leave. He seemed in a daze by seeing Buffy again, but Angel could tell by the look in his eyes that he was angry with Willow too.

"You are going to bed." Angel told Dawn. Dawn didn't object; she said goodnight to Buffy, ignored Willow and Tara, and went upstairs. "I suggest maybe you two do the same." Angel added coldly to the witches. They did so. Finally, Buffy and Angel went upstairs.

Angel hesitated as they approached their room. "Do you…?"

"Yes." Buffy said immediately. "Stay with me. I don't want to be without you right now."

They lay together in bed in the dark, but neither of them were close to sleep. Buffy finally broke the silence. "I missed you."

Angel was caught off guard. "What?"

"While I was…gone. I missed you. I mean, I was happy, where I was, but…I still missed you."

Angel felt tears in his eyes. "I missed you too. I dreamed about you every night. Even so, Buffy, I never wanted this for you."

"I know." Buffy replied softly. "Don't be too angry with Willow."

"That's a lot to ask, Buffy."

"I know you're mad at her, and I'm not saying you don't have a reason to be, but her heart was in the right place. Don't get me wrong, I'm upset with her too, completely. But she was just being Willow…having a hard time letting go." They lay in silence for a few minutes before Buffy spoke again. "We were going to get married."

"Yeah." Angel said softly.

"Are…are we still going to get married?"

Angel looked at her in surprise. "Do you want to?"

"Angel…the only thing that makes this bearable is having you. Yeah, I still want to get married."

Angel smiled a bit in spite of himself. "I love you." He whispered.

"I love you too." Buffy replied. The two of them fell asleep in each other's arms.

**00000000ooooooooo00000000**

The next morning, Angel and Buffy came down for breakfast together and found everyone, the Scooby Gang and the investigators and Oz, all downstairs eating breakfast (not all in the kitchen, though. Not enough room.). "Buffy." Dawn said, getting up right away. "How are you?"

"Um, I'm ok." Buffy replied. She was holding tightly on to Angel's hand.

"We got you cereal." Willow said, handing her a bowl. "Sorry it's nothing fancier."

"Cereal is fine." Buffy said. "Thanks."

"No problem. Oh, and some blood for you, Angel." Willow added, handing him a cup. He glared at her a bit, and she blinked back tears. "I, uh…I should go…check something." She quickly left the room. Tara followed her.

Buffy and Angel wandered into the living room and sat in the corner together with their breakfast. "So," Angel said, "Is there anything that sounds bearable to do today? Anything at all?"

"I want to marry you." Buffy mumbled.

Angel smiled sadly. "That would be nice." He admitted.

"Angel." Wesley walked over. Angel saw Fred, Anya, Xander, Cordelia, and Doyle waiting over by the door. "We're going out to help with some of the damage made in the town caused by the demons last night."

Angel nodded. "Ok, good idea. Good luck, Wesley.

"Thank you." Wesley replied. He turned and looked at Buffy. "Hello Buffy."

"Hello Wes." Buffy replied. "Have fun on your demon clean up."

"I will. I mean, I probably won't, but…anyway, bye." He left, his group he had gotten together following him.

About ten minutes later, Buffy and Angel returned to the kitchen where Dawn, Willow, Tara, Giles, Gunn, Oz, and Spike were all still eating and/or cleaning up. Angel put their dishes in the sink and turned to face everyone. "Is anyone doing anything important today that the rest of us should know about?" he asked.

"I don't think so." Gunn replied. "We're not leaving for a few days."

"I'm not either." Oz said.

"There's not much going on except damage control from last night, and there's already a team out to do that." Willow said.

"Buffy?" Giles asked. Buffy had been staring out the window, lost in thought. She blinked and turned around.

"Sorry." She said. "What?"

"Are you ok?"

"Um, I'm fine." Buffy said. She grabbed on the Angel's hand again.

"Do you want to rest for a while?" Dawn asked.

"Maybe we should find her something to kill." Spike said. "I bet that always makes the Slayer feel better." He frowned. "Not that I'm volunteering…"

"I'm fine!" Buffy practically screamed. She ran out into the backyard, slamming the door behind her.

Dawn looked at Angel sheepishly. "Sorry."

Angel sighed, and was about to reply when he thought of something. Of course, how come this hadn't occurred to him earlier? It was perfect, just perfect. He ran outside after her. She was sitting on the steps, covering her face with her hands. He sat down next to her. "I'm sorry about all that."

"It's not your fault." Buffy said. "Nothing we can do about it."

"Well, actually." He began. "I had an idea." He leaned closer and whispered his plan in her ear.

She actually came close to a smile. "Let's do it." She said. "Right now."

"Ok, you run upstairs and get what we need. Meet me out front by my car in ten minutes." They both got up and went inside. Buffy hurried past everyone and went upstairs. Tara looked at Angel.

"We didn't mean to upset her." She said.

"She's fine." Angel said. "We're going out for a while."

"Where are you going?" Dawn asked.

"Just for a drive around town. I thought it would be good for her to get out."

"That's a good idea." Willow said. "Take your time."

"We will." Angel replied. He went outside and stood by his car, waiting for Buffy. She came out a few minutes later with bags for both of them she had managed to sneak past the others. She handed Angel and pen and paper, and then tossed the bags in the car. "Thanks." Angel said. He wrote a note to everyone on the paper, folded it up, then snuck back across the yard and stuck it in the door, so it would fall and be noticed next time the door was opened. Then he ran back and got in the driver's seat of the car. Buffy was sitting in the passenger seat.

She kissed him. "Let's go." She said. Angel nodded, and they drove off.

**00000000ooooooooo00000000**

About half an hour later, Wesley, Fred, Anya, Xander, Cordelia, and Doyle came back. Cordelia opened the front door, and Angel's note came out. She frowned and picked it up as they all came inside.

Everyone who was still at home was in the living room. Willow looked up. "Hey." She said. "How was the clean up?"

"As you'd expect." Wesley sighed. "Dirty."

"What's that?" Dawn asked, looking at the paper in Cordelia's hands.

"It's a note I found in the door…it's from Angel and Buffy." She said in surprise. She started reading it to herself.

"Where are Buffy and Angel?" Xander asked.

"They went for a drive around town." Tara told him.

"Oh, I don't _believe _this!" Cordelia shouted suddenly, slamming the note down on the desk she was standing next to. She looked at the other in exasperation. "They've eloped!"

"_What?_" Dawn cried. She jumped forward and snatched the note from Cordelia.

"I thought they only went for a drive." Doyle said. Oz and Spike looked at each other, and ran upstairs.

"This is Angel's writing, he must have left the note before left. He says they're going to get married, and then they're going away for a few weeks, as a honeymoon and a chance for Buffy to recuperate." Dawn said, reading the note. She put it back down. "He says they'll be in touch."

Oz and Spike came back down. "A bunch of their clothes is missing." Oz said. "Both of them."

"They must have packed a few bags and run off when we weren't looking." Spike said.

"I can't believe they just ran off." Anya said.

"He says they're coming back." Cordelia said. "It's just for a few weeks."

"Maybe it's not such a bad thing." Xander said. "Buffy can get some time away."

"They're getting married without us." Willow said, sounding disappointed.

"We ripped her out of heaven, Will." Xander said. "If I was Buffy or Angel, I probably wouldn't want us there either."

"They actually eloped." Cordelia said. "I mean, they actually _eloped_."

"Yes, yes, we got that part." Wesley told her.

"I agree with Xander." Giles said. "Just let them have their time alone. It will probably be good for Buffy. For both of them."

"How long will they be gone?" Spike asked.

"They just said a few weeks." Dawn said.

"Weeks without Buffy _or _Angel, on the Hellmouth." Anya said. "We're…screwed."

"I can stick around until they get back." Oz said. "I'll help you out."

"Thanks, Oz." Xander said.

"We can probably stay too." Doyle said, looking around at his team. "Anyone object?"

"I've got nothing to get back to." Cordelia said.

"Me neither." Gunn said.

"I'm free." Wesley said.

"I don't really do anything except help you so…yeah, I can stay." Fred added uncertainly.

Giles smiled. "Excellent." He said.

"We'll need all the help we can get." Tara added. "It was hard enough without Buffy, but without her and Angel…"

"We're happy to help." Doyle said.

"Thanks, guys." Willow said.

As everyone slowly went back to what they were doing, Dawn smiled to herself. Buffy and Angel finally got their time alone together.

**So I realize I changed this one almost completely. I never liked the storyline with the demon that followed Buffy. It seemed kind of boring. I found this much more interesting. So the next chapter, Flooded, is going to be a little different. Buffy and Angel will be on their honeymoon, and although they will have a few fluffy/angst/hurt/comfort scenes, most of the chapter will be comic relief to make up for all of this depressing sadness. We're actually going to focus more on everyone in Sunnydale, trying to keep everything together without them. Hopefully, humor will ensue. My goal is to make that one funny for most of it. I'm hoping it'll work out and everyone will like it. As for this chapter, what did you think about Buffy and Angel running off and getting married? Good? Please review!**


	4. Flooded

**Chapter/episode 4: Flooded. What an interesting episode this will be. So Buffy and Angel are in this chapter, but it actually focuses more on everyone else. A lot of this chapter is comic relief after the emotional last couple of chapters. Buffy and Angel are on their honeymoon, where Angel is helping Buffy adjust. Meanwhile, the Scoobies, the Paranormal Investigators, and Oz are back in Sunnydale, trying to deal with everything there. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer**

Doyle and Xander walked into the kitchen. "Good morning ladies." Xander said to Willow, Tara, Dawn, Anya, Fred, and Cordelia, all of whom were sitting at the table.

"Morning Xander." Willow said. She looked at the two of them. They had a large toolbox. "What are you guys doing?"

"Dawn said the pipes in the basement are leaking." Doyle said. "Xander and I are going down to fix them."

"Oh good." Cordelia said sarcastically. "Doyle and Xander, off to fix the pipes together. What could possibly go wrong?"

"You can laugh, Cordelia Chase," Xander said, pointing dramatically at her, "But I'll have you know that I'm a fantastic plumber. I've fixed dozens of pipes."

Anya spoke up. "Not well." She said. "He did fix them, just…not well."

Cordelia laughed. "I like her." She said. "Alexander Harris has a type, apparently. Women who aren't afraid to insult him."

"Yes, I find insults a real turn on." Xander said sarcastically. He looked at Doyle. "Let's just go fix the pipes." They went downstairs.

Spike ran inside, and blanket over his head. He threw it off as he slammed the door behind him. "Morning all." He said.

"Morning Spike." Dawn said. "If you want blood, Angel's got some in the fridge you can have."

"Thanks Little Bit." Spike said, going to get some. "Speaking of Angel, has anyone heard from the happy couple since they left a few days ago?"

"No, but give them time." Tara said. "It is their honeymoon, and Buffy has a lot to go through while trying to re-adjust to the world. They'll call when they're ready."

Willow looked uncomfortable. "I'm going to go…check on Xander and Doyle." She said, and quickly left the room.

Tara sighed as she watched her leave. "Willow feels really guilty." She said. "I mean, we all do, I certainly feel guilty too, but Willow's taking it extra hard."

"Well she should." Cordelia said. "I mean, no offense, Willow's great and all, but I can't believe you all did something like that."

"Well don't rub it in." Anya said, looking at her breakfast as though it had just become very interesting.

Suddenly Willow, Xander, and Doyle all came running back into the kitchen from the basement, all dripping wet. Water could be heard from downstairs. "See?" Cordelia cried, laughing. "We should call a plumber. I don't think the Harris and Doyle team are going to do it."

**00000000ooooooooo00000000**

"Ok," Cordelia sighed, "So there isn't enough money to call a plumber."

She was with Giles, Dawn, Willow, Xander, Oz, and Spike in the living room, looking at some of the Summers' financial papers. "So you're saying we're broke?" Dawn asked. "Did anyone bother to tell Buffy?"

"Oh, come on." Spike said. "You and your sis are broke, but you're forgetting about Angel."

"What do you mean?" Xander asked.

"Angel's 246 years old, and I much as I hate to admit it, he's not an idiot. If you're smart and you've lived that long, you tend to have money saved up. I don't know much about what Angel's got, but knowing him he's probably got a fair amount hidden away somewhere. You'll be fine."

"Ok, we should bring this up to Angel once they call." Willow said. "Don't say anything to Buffy yet, though. She's got enough to worry about."

"We should still hold off on the plumber until we have the money sorted out, however." Giles said.

"So we're just going to let the pipes leak?" Cordelia asked.

"I can give it another try." Xander said.

"No!" Willow, Dawn, and Cordelia all cried at the same time.

The phone rang. "I've got it!" Doyle called as he came downstairs and picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Doyle? It's Angel."

"Angel!" Doyle cried. "We've been wondering when you were going to call. How's Buffy?"

"She's doing better. She's asleep right now." Angel said.

"Where did you take her?" Doyle asked.

He heard Angel laugh a bit. "Ireland."

"Really?" Doyle said with a grin. "Fantastic choice. Great place, Ireland."

"Yeah. It's very different than I remember it."

"You lived there two and a half centuries ago. So, as Cordy would say, _duh_."

"Doyle!" Dawn shouted. "Who are you talking to?"

"Angel!" Doyle shouted back. There was the sound of footsteps, and then the crowd from the living room came hurrying into the kitchen. "You're very popular today." Doyle told Angel. "Um, here's Giles." He handed Giles the phone.

"Angel?" Giles asked.

"Hi Giles. Um, Buffy's asleep right now…"

"I wanted to talk to you, actually. Angel, Buffy and Dawn are broke. The money from Joyce's insurance is gone and no one in the family is making any income right now. There's barely enough money for essentials, not even enough to hire a plumber for the now heavily leaking pipe in the basement."

Angel sighed. "I'll take care of the money. Don't worry about it. Hire a plumber, I'll make sure to…there's a heavily leaking pipe in the basement?"

Before Giles could respond, Dawn had snatched the phone out of his hand. "Angel, it's Dawn."

"Hey Dawnie. How are things is Sunnydale?"

"Same old same old. How are you and Buffy doing?"

"We're fine. So what's this about a pipe?"

"Hey, you can't worry about that stuff right now. I forbid it. It's not a big deal anyway. Just make a note not to let Xander are Doyle near pipes ever again."

"What? Why can't Xander or Doyle…?"

Dawn cut him off. "Say hello to Buffy for me, I love you both, here's Cordelia, bye!" and she handed Cordelia the phone before he could react.

"Angel," Cordelia began, "I cannot believe you just ran off and got married without us!"

"Sorry, Cordy." Angel mumbled.

"You just up and left. Didn't say anything, just left a note. Well, in case you were worried, we all stayed to watch over the city. I don't suppose you even care."

"Thank you, Cordelia." Angel said apologetically.

Cordelia sighed. "Just help Buffy, ok? And enjoy yourselves. God knows you could both use a vacation."

"Alright, Cordy. I've got to go, say hello to everyone for me."

"Ok, bye Angel." She hung up and turned to the others. "So what else do we have to do today?"

**00000000ooooooooo00000000**

**Ireland**

Angel hung up and turned to Buffy, who had just gotten out of bed. "Was that the others, in Sunnydale?"She asked him.

"Yeah." Angel said. "They're doing pretty good."

"Are they mad?"

Angel smiled a bit. "Cordy yelled a little…but I think they understand."

Buffy nodded, and laid back down on the bed. Angel joined her. "I'm glad we did this." Buffy said. She fingered her wedding ring as she spoke.

"Me too." Angel said. "How do you feel today?"

"Better." She replied. "I still…it just hurts a little. I was ripped out of Heaven. By my friends."

"They thought they were doing the right thing." Angel said quietly.

"I know. They thought I was in Hell. I just wonder…why did they think I was in Hell?" her voice was choked with tears. "Did I do something that made them think that's where I would be?"

"No, Buffy, of course you didn't!" Angel said. "It wasn't like that at all. They thought you were in Hell because you were killed by mystical energy from Hell. That's the only reason. I promise you that."

Buffy nodded and curled up closer to him. "I'll be ok. I just need a little time. That's all. Just a little time."

Angel smiled slightly and pulled her into his arms. "I'll give you all the time in the world."

Buffy closed her eyes and smiled. "I just hope the others are doing ok on their own in Sunnydale." She said.

"I'm sure they're doing a great job."

**00000000ooooooooo00000000**

**Sunnydale**

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Anya screamed as a vampire chased her across the cemetery. She ran into Fred, who was holding a stake, and knocked her to the ground. Fred gasped as she saw the vampire coming toward them and threw the stake at it. She missed. "Oh, great job!" Anya cried sarcastically.

Suddenly the vamp was staked from behind and turned to dust. Spike was standing there with his own stake. "Need a little help, ladies?" he asked.

"Thank you." Fred gasped in relief.

"No problem." Spike replied, watching as they got off the ground.

Oz, Tara, and Wesley came running over. "Did you get it?" Oz asked.

"Yeah." Spike said. "Managed to keep it from snacking on these two."

"It was enormous!" Anya said dramatically. "It was the biggest vampire I had ever seen!"

"It looked pretty normal sized to me, luv." Spike said.

Willow joined them. "I haven't seen anymore." She said. "I think we should call it a night."

"I'm all for that." Fred sighed. "Let's go."

They started walking out of the cemetery, back towards the Summers' house. "So Wesley," Willow began, "Does this make you miss your days in Sunnydale? Doing this patrol every night?"

"Heavens, no!" Wesley cried immediately. "I mean…it's a nice enough town during the day…" he stammered, realizing he sounded rude, "But I much prefer LA where patrol isn't quite so…exhausting."

"I was teasing, Wes." Willow said. "I figured you didn't."

A few minutes later, they walked into the house and found Xander sitting in the dining room, talking to someone on the phone. Dawn was sitting next to him, tapping her fingers on the table impatiently. "Xander, hurry up." She said.

Xander put his hand over the speaker. "Dawn, give me a minute." He whispered, and then went back to his phone call.

"Who's he talking to?" Tara asked Dawn.

Dawn smiled. "Buffy." She said. "She and Angel called again a little while ago, and wanted to hear about how things were going demon-wise."

"So why is she talking to Xander?" Spike asked.

"Oh, ha-ha, I can hear you!" Xander called. "Sorry, Buffy, go on…"

"How did patrol go?" Dawn asked them.

"It was quite exhilarating." Wesley said.

"Which is code for tiring, right?" Dawn asked, grinning.

"Yes." Wesley admitted.

"It went fine." Willow said. "We staked all the vamps we saw."

Dawn nodded. "Good." She said.

Xander covered the phone speaker again. "Angel said if you guys need extra weapons, he's got some stored in the mansion where he used to live before he moved in with Buffy and her family." He said. "He says you can help yourselves if you need them, as long as you put them back."

"I thought you were talking to Buffy." Oz said.

"I think they're handing the phone back and forth." Xander said, shrugging. He went back to his other conversation.

"We probably could use the weapons." Fred said.

"I agree." Wesley said. "Perhaps tomorrow we should go over there and get them."

Xander walked over sullenly and handed the phone to Spike. Spike gave him a weird look. "Why are you giving me this?"

"Buffy says she enjoys talking to me but would like to talk to someone who actually knows what's going on in the slaying game." Xander grumbled, not meeting any of their eyes.

Spike started laughing as he took the phone. "Well I did try to tell you." He said.

**The Next Day**

Doyle, Cordelia, Wesley, Gunn, Fred, and Oz went the mansion to get some of Angel's weapons. "It's been a long time since I've been here." Oz remarked as they walked in.

"Angel said the weapons should be over here." Doyle said, walking over to a large trunk in the corner.

"I like this place." Cordelia sighed, looking around.

"It _is _kind of nice." Fred agreed.

"Not a mirror in sight though." Cordelia added.

"Well that makes sense." Gunn said.

Wesley suddenly froze. "Did any of you hear that?" he asked.

"I didn't hear anything." Fred said.

"It's probably just the fact that you're in a really old, really big abandoned mansion." Cordelia said. "You're getting paranoid."

"No, I hear something too." Oz said, looking around.

Doyle looked up. "Maybe-"

He was cut off as a large demon burst through the door. Fred screamed. Doyle quickly tossed them each a weapon and ran at the demon with an axe in the air. It pushed him away, sending him flying across the room. "Doyle!" Cordelia cried.

"I'm ok!" Doyle yelled, sitting up.

Wesley and Gunn both started swinging their own weapons at the demon as it came closer. Wesley gave it a good scratch, but that only managed to make it mad. Cordelia hit it from behind with her axe. It whirled around to face her. She gulped and started backing away.

Suddenly something rammed into it from the side, knocking it over. "What was that?" Fred asked.

"Oz?" Gunn cried.

Oz seemed to have become half-wolf and was attacking the demon. After a minute, it managed to throw him off. He went back to normal and scrambled back to the others. "How did you do that?" Wesley asked.

"I can transform at will now." Oz said. "And I can control myself. I've put a lot a work into it."

"That was amazing." Cordelia said. "Thanks."

"Oz," Doyle began, "Would you like a job?"

Oz seemed to contemplate for a second. "Ok." He said.

The demon got off the floor and started heading for them again. "Now what?" Fred asked.

"Run!" Wesley yelled, and the six of them ran out of the mansion as fast as they could. The demon followed.

"It's chasing us!" Cordelia yelled.

"Run faster!" Doyle replied.

"Oh, you're really a lot of help!"

"I know!"

"Wait, wait, hold up!" Gunn shouted. "We took the car here!"

"Right!" Wesley yelled. "The car, get to the car!"

They all got inside Oz's van and started driving away. Fred and Oz peered out the window. "It's gaining on us." Oz said.

"Drive faster!" Cordelia yelled at Doyle, who was in the driver's seat.

"I'm working on it!" Doyle shouted.

They sped through town, ignoring the screams of the people on the streets at the sight of the demon. Doyle pulled the car over in front of the Summers' house, and they jumped out and started heading for the door when Wesley crashed into someone also heading for the door, wearing a blanket on their head. "Spike?" Wesley asked.

"Can't chat, trying not to burn up." Spike said.

"Well we're trying not to get eaten by that." Fred said, pointing as the demon ran down the street.

"Bloody hell!" Spike yelled when he saw it. "Get inside, get inside!"

They all ran in through the front door, which was broken down a second later as the demon came crashing into the house. Dawn, who was sitting in the living room, screamed. Everyone else came running downstairs. "What is that thing?" Xander demanded.

"We don't know, but it's really pissed." Gunn replied.

"Scatter!" Oz shouted. They all went running in different directions. The demon followed Oz, Cordelia, Doyle, Willow, and Spike into the kitchen. Upon realizing that it was following her, Cordelia shrieked, and threw open the door to the basement, which hit the demon. It looked momentarily confused, which was enough for Spike and Oz to grab it and start bashing it's head repeatedly into the wall.

"This won't last forever!" Spike shouted.

Suddenly Giles came running in with a very large axe. "Oz, Spike, duck!" he shouted. They obeyed, and Giles swiped the demons head off swiftly with the axe. Its decapitated head smashed into the open basement door, startling Cordelia and causing her to stumble backward and fall down the stairs. There was a loud splashing sound.

"Cordy!" Doyle ran to the doorway and looked down. The splashing noise had been Cordelia landing, because the leaky pipe from the day before had gotten worse and completely flooded out the basement. Cordelia was soaking wet as she sat up, groaning.

"I'm ok." She said. "I thought we were calling a plumber about this."

Spike joined Doyle and peered down into the basement. "Wow." He said. "Did you know it was flooded in here?"

Cordelia simply glared at him.

**There! Finally! I am so sorry that took so long! I promise to try to go back to updating regularly. Please review! **


	5. Life Serial

**Chapter/episode 5: Life Serial. **

**Ok, ok, I have some explaining to do. I know I made you wait forever. I really am so, so, so sorry, and I know you've heard this all before. But I'm making it up to you, not just because I really want to, but also because I'm in a bit of a situation. See, I'm going on vacation for a while this summer, as I do every summer. Anyone who has read previous stories of mine may know that usually I can't do any writing while I'm on vacation. The good news is that this year I can. Don't expect regular updates, because I still won't have as much time, but I will be able to post occasionally. Once I'm back home I'll try to go back to regular postings. Here's the catch: I won't be using my regular computer to write. Which would be fine, except for one small problem. As I've mentioned before, I write some chapters ahead of time. Because of this, I have some future chapters saved on my normal computer that are either finished or nearly finished. The problem is that some of these are supposed to be put up quite soon, and if I don't have them, I won't be able to post anything. So I've come up with a solution: If has a cluster of these pre-written chapters, followed by a cluster of unwritten chapters. The entire cluster of pre-writes will be posted online within the next few days. I still have to finish a few, and then I shall post and post and post. I have more chapters than days left, so most likely there will be more than one chapter per day. This means a lot of work for me and a lot of reading material for you. As a bonus, I should mention that this cluster includes some of the best episodes of the season…such as Once More with Feeling…and Tabula Rasa…so you guys can go nuts reading if you wish. I can't promise at what point during that next few days each chapter will be put up. I'm basically doing finish then post. So hopefully that will make up for my laziness this past month. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer. **

"Guys, their car just pulled up." Oz said, looking out the window.

"Ok, everybody do the Slayer a favor, and don't press the apologies and questions about how she feels unless she brings it up." Spike said, glancing around at everyone else.

"Spike's right, just act like they're coming home from their honeymoon. Nothing else." Tara said.

It was early in the evening, with the sun just setting, and everyone was waiting as Angel and Buffy returned from their trip. "Somebody should run out and greet them." Wesley said as he put the last of the patrolling weapons back in the cabinet.

"I'll go." Willow said. She hurried outside just as Buffy and Angel got out of their car. "Hey, guys, welcome back!" she cried.

"Hi Willow." Buffy said. She hugged her friend.

"We missed you both so much." Willow said. She looked at Angel uncertainly, wondering if he was still mad. He gave her a small smile as he pulled their bags out of the back. She smiled back. "Here, let me take one of those." She said, reaching for a bag.

"Will, both Angel and I have super strength, I think we can handle it." Buffy said.

"I know, but it's customary, isn't it?" Willow replied. "You guys just got home, I'm helping you with your bags. Everybody else is waiting inside, come on!"

They followed her up to the front door, which was opened for them by Xander. "Hey Buffy, welcome home." He said.

"Hi Xander." Buffy said, hugging him as she came in.

Angel paused and looked at the door. "Is this a different door?" he asked, frowning.

The others exchanged guilty looks. "There _was_ a slight incident with a demon last week." Cordelia said sheepishly.

"It broke down the door." Tara admitted.

"Did you kill it?" Angel asked.

"Yes."

"No problem, then."

"Xander made the door." Anya spoke up. "He's quite good at it."

"He also fixed the wall in the kitchen." Spike said.

"And the basement door." Oz added.

"Sounds like you were busy." Buffy said, looking at Xander.

"He did not fix the pipes, however." Cordelia said, smiling at the scowl on Xander's face.

"So while we were gone you broke the house." Angel said.

"Well we fixed it!" Doyle cried.

"Buffy!" Dawn ran over and threw her arms around her sister. "I missed you." She moved over and hugged Angel as well. "You too, Angel."

"Hi, Dawnie." Buffy said, smiling at her sister.

"Are you guys hungry?" Dawn asked. "We already ate but if you wanted something…"

"I think we're ok." Buffy said. "But maybe we could move out of the hallway."

"Right! The living room!"

**00000000ooooooooo00000000**

Later that night, Buffy and Angel were in their room, getting ready for bed. "Ok," Angel said, "So the investigators are leaving in the morning, and Oz is going with them-"

"I'm glad Doyle gave Oz a job." Buffy commented. "I think it'll be a good match."

Angel nodded in agreement and continued. "People will be returning to their various homes, meaning we're finally back to just having you, me, Dawn, Willow, and Tara in the house. I've got all of the bills paid so we don't have to worry. We don't have to make wedding plans anymore…" he smiled at his wife, "…we got that all worked out already. We might just be able to pull our lives back together." He got onto the bed and lay down next to Buffy. "How are you?" he asked.

"Better." Buffy replied softly. "I'll be ok. The time away with you definitely helped."

"I'm glad." Angel replied. He kissed her.

After they pulled away, Buffy whispered, "I think I'd like to get a job."

Angel looked at her in surprise. "You do?"

"Yeah. I mean, I'm an adult and I'm the guardian of my little sister and I have no income. You heard what Giles said, I'm broke."

"You don't have to worry about money, Buffy, I told you. I can pay the bills."

"It's not that. I want to make an income, to be responsible and care for my little sister and not just live off the money you have saved up. I want to prove that I could take care of myself, even if I didn't have you. I also think that having a job to go to everyday might help take my mind off…other things…and help get me back into a routine. Plus, I don't like just letting you take care of everything. It makes me feel…helpless."

Angel nodded. "Ok, then. What about school?"

"I was going to try to re-enroll, but I missed the deadline. Busy being dead and all."

"Don't talk like that." Angel said, a bit more harshly than he meant to.

"Sorry." Buffy said quietly. "I was talking to Willow and Tara this evening, though, and they said I could go to class with them until I can enroll. That's what I'm doing tomorrow."

"Sounds like a plan." Angel said.

"What about you? What are you doing tomorrow?"

Angel thought about it. "I don't know. I'll figure it out, though. I always do. Maybe I'll get Giles to fill me in on any demon activity we missed while we were gone. Besides the one demon who broke into our house and broke a bunch of our stuff."

Buffy smiled. "They fixed everything." She pointed out.

"I know." Angel replied. "I love you."

"I love you too."

**00000000ooooooooo00000000**

**The Next Day**

"Buffy. Buffy. Buffy?"

Buffy blinked and looked around. "Oh, Angel. How long have you been standing there?"

"A few minutes. You asked me this morning if I would pick you up, remember?"

"Oh yeah." Buffy looked around, but everything seemed to be normal now.

"What happened? I talked to Willow and Tara and they said you disappeared." Angel frowned and put his hand on her shoulder so she looked at him again. "Are you alright?"

"Something really weird happened." Buffy said. "I don't know. It was like time sped up around me…and then I found this thing on my jacket…"

Angel frowned worriedly. "Let's get you home." He said. "The car's this way, come on."

"Maybe I'm not ready for school yet." Buffy said as they started walking across campus. "Even before the strange stuff started happening, I could barely keep up in class with Willow. I think I'll wait a while before going back. Maybe I'll look for a job tomorrow."

"Ok, that sounds good." Angel told her. "I was talking to everyone at the magic shop today. Xander said he could probably pull some strings and get you a job on his construction project. And Giles offered you a job at the Magic Box."

"Oh, Xander's offer, any day." Buffy groaned. "I mean, retail? Seriously?" Angel had to laugh.

**00000000ooooooooo0000000**

**The Next Day**

Angel saw Buffy standing on the corner, waiting for him. He pulled the car over and smiled. "Hello."

"Hi." Buffy grumbled, getting in.

"Sorry about the job."

"I was fired on my first day. Stupid demon." Buffy sighed.

"Did you see what kind of demon it was?" Angel asked.

"No. There was more than one, but they dissolved. And I beat up my co-workers. Oh, go on and laugh. I know you want to."

"No I don't!" Angel insisted. She gave him a disbelieving look. "Really, I'm not going to laugh at you. I just think we should start looking into this. I mean, very strange things have been happening since we got back. Even before that, if you think about the demon that ambushed everyone while we were on our honeymoon."

"Yeah." Buffy agreed. After a moment she asked, "Does this mean I have to take Giles's offer to work at the Magic Box?"

"Probably."

Buffy groaned. Angel smiled to himself. "See, you do think it's funny." Buffy said to him.

"No, sweetie, of course I don't."

**00000000ooooooooo00000000**

**The Next Day**

"Thanks for coming with me." Buffy sighed as she and Angel walked from the car to the Magic Box.

"No problem. I'll be training in the back if you need me." Angel replied.

"I'm not looking forward to this."

"You'll be great."

"That's what you said yesterday before I went to work with Xander. And the day before that when I went to school with Willow and Tara."

"Yeah, but…uh…I mean it this time?"

They went inside. "Buffy, hello." Giles said when he saw them.

Angel turned to look at Buffy. "Just try to enjoy yourself." He said.

"Yeah, that'll happen." Buffy retorted.

"That's the spirit." Angel sighed. "I'll be in the back!" he called, and disappeared behind the back door.

"Come here, Buffy, I can show you how it all works." Anya called from the counter. Buffy sighed and went over to see her.

Two hours later, Giles went into the back. "Angel?"

Angel stopped punching the punching bag to look at him. "Yes?"

"Buffy just left." Giles said. "She quit and then walked out. She seemed very upset, I think you should talk to her."

"She left already?" Angel frowned and ran out to the front of the shop. He went outside and looked around. "She took my car." He sighed. He turned back to Giles and Anya. "I'll go back home and find her." He said. "If she left, though, I wouldn't hold your breath on her keeping the job. We'll see you later." He left, ready to walk home.

**00000000ooooooooo00000000**

When Angel got home, he found Buffy lying on her bed. "You stole my car." He said as he walked in, getting her attention.

"You shouldn't have given me a key." Buffy replied flatly.

Angel sat down next to her. "Why did you leave?" he asked. "What happened?"

"There was a stupid mummy hand, and this woman wanted to buy it, but every time I tried to get it from the basement something would happen. And every time I failed, I would end up back in time when the woman first walked in. It was like some sort of a time loop. And finally I figured it out that we had to ship one to her, but I forgot to charge for shipping which annoyed Anya, and that was the last straw, and I quit and drove home." Buffy explained.

Angel frowned. "The same problem given to you over and over…strange…now I know someone's trying to mess with your head."

"Gee, you think?" Buffy cried. "Sorry." She sighed a minute later. She curled up in his arms. "It's been a long three days."

"I know it has." Angel replied. He thought for a few minutes, and then said, "Ok, I'm going to suggest something that I've never ever suggested in my two hundred plus years and probably never will again."

Buffy looked up curiously. "What is it?"

"I had a very interesting conversation with Spike yesterday…"

**00000000oooooooo0000000**

Buffy, Angel, and Spike were all sitting in Spike's crypt…drinking. Spike, who had a tendency to have some kind of alcohol, was more than willing to let the other two join him. The most shocking part was that all three of them seemed to be _enjoying _themselves.

"I'm just saying I never plan on looking at another mummy hand again." Buffy said.

"Good luck with that, in your line of work." Spike told her.

"Oh I don't know." Angel said. "The Vampire Slayer doesn't necessarily have to be concerned with mummies. She could probably pull it off."

"I just wish I knew what was doing all this to me." Buffy said. "Something's got to be behind it."

"It's interesting." Angel said. "The things that have been happening are a rather interesting combination. I can't think off the top of my head what kind of demon could do all of that."

"Maybe it's not a demon." Spike pointed out.

"Aw, we're all out." Buffy sighed as she drank the last shot.

Spike smiled. "I know how we can get more and find some information on your may or may-not-be a demon spy. There's a bar I go to, it's popular with demons. You hear a lot of gossip there."

"We could give it a try." Angel agreed. "Buffy?"

"Sounds pretty good to me." Buffy replied. "We should go."

They left the crypt, and Spike started leading the way towards the bar. Angel caught up with him while Buffy walked behind them, and asked, "Are you sure about this?"

"Relax, Angel, it's perfectly fine." Spike said, rolling his eyes. "Besides, even if it was dangerous, Buffy is the Slayer. I'm sure she could handle it."

"Yes, but…" Angel glanced at Buffy behind them. "She's had an awful lot to drink."

"Oh, please. We have too, but we're fine."

"We're vampires. That's how it works. She's not."

"Look, Angel, even if she has had too much to drink, it's a bar. Do you know how many drunk people you can find in a bar?"

"God, you bug me."

"And don't you forget it, Peaches."

"Would you please not call me that?"

They continued arguing like this until they got to the bar (much to Buffy's entertainment). When they got there, Spike ordered them all drinks and brought them to the back. "This is where the interesting stuff happens." He said quietly to Buffy. He turned to Angel. "You've got to help me."

"Help you do what?" Angel asked suspiciously.

"Help me play poker. That's what we do. We talk while we play, which is how I get information."

Angel sighed, irritated. "I'm not giving you money to gamble with, if that's what you're asking."

"No!" Spike growled. "I mean you should play too. Buffy can watch. We don't even play for money, don't worry about that."

"Then what do you play for?"

As if on cue, one of the demons set a basket on the table and removed the blanket that was over it. Buffy gasped. "You play for kittens?" she cried, looking disgusted.

"They're delicious!" the demon said defensively.

Angel turned back to Spike. "I don't want to win kittens." He said.

"Why not?" Spike demanded. "It's not like we're gambling for human victims. Surely even you could drink cat blood."

"Nothing with a soul could kill those!" Angel cried, pointing at the kittens. "They're adorable!"

Spike rolled his eyes. "Then don't eat them. If you win, set them free or give them to Dawn as pets or something. Just play, alright?"

"Fine." Angel grumbled, grudgingly. "But you owe me one."

As Angel went to sit down, a demon with a lot of floppy skin walked over to him and held out his hand. "I'm Clem." He said good-naturedly.

Angel looked at him for a moment before shaking his hand. "Angel." He said.

"Nice to meet you, Angel." Clem said.

"It's nice to meet you too." Angel said uncertainly. He glanced at Buffy, who shrugged at him.

The game went downhill pretty quickly when they started accusing each other of cheating. Spike said, "I am not a cheater! Angel, tell them."

Angel gave him a look. "You want me to defend you?"

"Point taken." Spike said after a thought.

Angel groaned. "This is a waste of time. Come on, Buffy." He got up, took Buffy's hand, and the two of them started to leave the bar.

"Buffy, Angel, wait!" Spike ran after them. He stopped them outside. "Give me a few more minutes; I can get something out of them."

"All of them were idiots, Spike, I really don't think they knew anything." Angel argued.

"Guys," Buffy said suddenly. She was staring at a black van parked on the street. "I've seen that van before. At the construction site." Angel stepped forward and started looking at it with her. A moment later, a very large, red demon with wings came out from behind the van. Spike ran up to them.

"Do you recognize that kind of demon?" Angel whispered to him.

"No." Spike replied.

"Neither do I."

"Slayer, you have discovered me!" the demon said dramatically. "I have been testing you! I know your weaknesses!"

Buffy stared at it in surprise for a moment. Then he tried to punch it in the face, but missed. Then she kicked at it, and this time she got it.

Hard.

"You have defeated me!" the demon roared as the van drove away behind them. "Now I shall return to my demon dimension…where I'll lay my head, and gently die." There was a bang, and the demon disappeared in a whirl of smoke.

Buffy, Angel, and Spike stared for a minute. "He blew up." Buffy said finally.

"Yes, he did." Angel agreed.

"That was…weird." Spike said.

"Well at least we figured it out." Buffy sighed. She turned to Angel. "Can we go home now?"

Angel smiled. "Yeah." He said. He picked her up off the ground, and for once, she didn't even argue. "See you tomorrow, Spike."

"Night, Peaches." Spike replied. They both started walking in opposite directions, towards the places they called home.

**Done! Not my favorite episode…or chapter, but I think it turned out ok, considering. Next chapter will be up…soon. Please review!**


	6. All the Way

**Chapter/episode 6: All the Way. Not my favorite Halloween episode, but it has its moments.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy. Or a horse. Which has absolutely nothing to do with it.**

"Willow, I really think it's best to try _not _to insult the customers." Angel said as he and Dawn joined Willow, who had just been yelling at a woman in a witch costume.

"I can't help it!" Willow cried. "It's all so stereotypical! If I see one more person in a witch costume-oh!" she gasped as she saw a toddler in a little witch costume. "You are so cute!"

Angel and Dawn grinned at each other. "What were you saying, Willow?" Dawn said.

"Oh come on, she's adorable!" Willow gushed. "Come on, let's get you a lollipop."

Everyone was helping out at the Magic Box, because Giles and Anya had been working nonstop with all the Halloween traffic of customers. Angel and Willow joined Tara behind the counter. "So Angel, I noticed you're not dressed up." Tara said.

"Oh no, not me." Angel said.

"I thought maybe Buffy would talk you into it." Willow said.

"No way. Not after last time. Remember what she made me wear a few years ago when we went to that haunted house?" Willow started giggling. "Exactly." Angel told her. "Never again." He walked away.

"What did he dress up as?" Tara asked Willow.

"Ask Xander." Willow replied. "He's got pictures."

Buffy came up from the basement. "Is it almost closing time?" she asked Angel.

Angel glanced up at the clock. "Yeah, almost." He said. "Just another hour. Buffy groaned and went to go help Giles. Angel sighed and went to go help a group of people looking at candles.

**1 Hour Later**

Buffy and Angel were both lying flat on their backs on the floor of the Magic Box. "That…was…exhausting." Buffy sighed. "Thank goodness we're not patrolling tonight."

"No kidding." Angel groaned.

Dawn, who was doing the same just a few feet away, said, "I'm never getting off this floor. I'll happily just stay here for the rest of my life."

Anya was the only one who seemed to have any energy left. She was counting the money. "I just want to thank you all so much." She said enthusiastically. "I am just so grateful that you would do this for me. That you would help me-" Giles cleared his throat loudly. "-I mean, us, earn this much money. And all I have to say is, I hope we earn even more tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Willow asked, looking horrified.

"Yes!" Anya exclaimed happily. "Post-holiday clearance! The cornerstone of retail."

Giles sighed. "Brooms for everyone."

"Oh, I could just enchant the brooms to clean up themselves." Willow suggested. "Like _Fantasia._"

"Yes, and we all know how well that ended for Mickey." Giles said, handing her a broom.

"I think I'm a bit better than I cartoon mouse." Willow said defensively.

Buffy and Angel both sat up, and Dawn went to go help Anya. "Actually, Willow," Angel said, "I once saw a witch try to enchant a bunch a brooms, and it ended up almost exactly like _Fantasia_."

Buffy laughed. "Seriously? What were you doing?"

Angel frowned. "I was in a cage. Spike and I were caught trying to kidnap a couple a members of the coven for Dru and Darla." He looked at the ground in embarrassment. "I don't want to talk about it." Tara giggled.

Xander was watching Anya and Dawn, whom Anya was teaching her dance for putting the money away. "I'm going to marry that girl." He said to Buffy.

"What?" Buffy cried. "She's fifteen, and my sister, so don't you even think about-"

"I think he meant Anya, honey." Angel interrupted.

"Oh." Buffy said, realizing that made a lot more sense.

Xander got up and walked over to Anya. "Everyone!" he said loudly. "I…we have an announcement to make."

Anya looked at Xander in surprise. "I thought you wanted to wait."

"Now is the time." He looked at everyone in the room. "We're getting married."

"Oh my god." Dawn said, smiling.

Buffy and Angel both stood up and walked over to Giles. "Did you know about this?" Buffy asked. "Either of you?"

Angel shook his head. "No."

"Not unless I blocked it from my memory." Giles said. "Much as I will block the image of Xander's tongue." He added as he saw Xander and Anya kissing. He took off his glasses and started cleaning them.

Buffy looked at him in shock. "Is that why you're always cleaning your glasses? So you won't have to see what we're doing?"

"Tell no one." Giles told her. Angel laughed.

**00000000ooooooo00000000**

Everyone went back to the Summers' house to celebrate Xander and Anya's engagement. Buffy was talking to Xander. "I can't believe you're engaged." She said.

"Says the married woman." Xander retorted.

"I know, but…I was only out of commission for three months. What else did I miss?"

Dawn, who had just walked over, said, "I got a tattoo."

"What?" Buffy cried, horrified.

"Which is why we told her no." Willow said as she and Angel walked in with more cups.

"Just a little one?" Dawn asked.

"Dawnie." Angel sighed.

"Sorry." Dawn said. "Anyway, I'll see you guys tomorrow." She added as she put on her jacket.

"Tomorrow? Wait, where are you going?" Buffy asked, frowning.

"You said I could spend the night and Janice's house. Remember?" Dawn told her.

"I know I did, but…now we're celebrating and…" Buffy struggled to find the right words.

"It's fine, Buff." Xander said. "Let her go have fun."

"Yes, this is just the first of many pre-marital celebrations." Anya said.

"All of which will hopefully go better than the ones Buffy and I attempted to have." Angel added.

"Fine, you can go." Buffy sighed.

"Thanks. I love you." Dawn said as she started for the door.

"Be careful!" Angel yelled after her.

"I will!" Dawn called back over her shoulder.

Seeing Buffy's worried look, Angel went over to her. "Relax, she's a smart girl. She'll be fine." He soothed.

"You're probably right." Buffy said.

"Of course I am."

"Oh, now you've gotten cheeky!" Buffy laughed.

Willow joined them. "You know, I can't believe Xander kept us in the dark for so long." She complained. She turned and saw both Angel and Buffy staring at her. "What?"

"This is us you're talking to." Buffy said.

"Right." Willow said. "You were even worse."

The celebrations continued. After a while, Giles, Buffy, and Angel listened to Xander and Anya talk about their future plans. "There's just so much to plan, you know." Anya was saying excitedly. "And not just the wedding. We have to plan about everything. We have to plan for our kids…we have to plan for the kids, otherwise we'll just have a ton…" Everyone else exchanged uncomfortable looks. "…if you ask me that's where you two are lucky, because you never have to worry about it." She continued, speaking now to Buffy and Angel. "Vampires can't have kids so you two can just-"

"Anya," Xander interrupted, seeing the very uneasy looks on Buffy and Angel's faces. "Let's go get some more chips, ok?" After she was gone, he said, "Sorry, Buffy." Before following her.

"That was an unpleasant conversation." Giles said.

"Oh you got off easy." Angel said, avoiding their eyes.

Ten minutes later, Buffy found Angel watching Willow and Xander dance. "You want to go patrol with me?" she asked.

"Yes I really would." Angel replied, and the two of them quietly slipped out of the house. "Won't they worry?" Angel asked.

"Xander knows." Buffy said. "Don't worry."

**00000000ooooooooo00000000**

They walked quietly along the dark streets, watching trick-or-treaters ran around in their costumes. It was Buffy who finally broke the silence. "I'm sorry about that."

Angel glanced at her. "About what?"

"What Anya said before. About us never having kids."

"It's true." Angel said simply.

"I know." Buffy replied. "But I know it's not a subject you like to talk about. It must have been uncomfortable for you."

"No more than it must have been for you." Angel said.

"Angel, I know you _really _well. And I know that even though you never say it, deep down you would really like to be a father."

Angel sighed. "Please, Buffy, I've had a couple of centuries to come to terms with the fact that I'm never having kids. You're the one who has only had a few years."

"I thought you had dropped that argument." Buffy said in an irritated tone.

"I have." Angel said quickly. "I was just trying to make a point."

After a few more minutes of walking in silence, Buffy said, "You know, we could adopt."

Angel laughed half-heartedly. "The vampire who adopted a child. That'll be the day."

"But you're only a vampire in the supernatural world." Buffy pointed out. "To the human world you're just nice guy who wants kids but can't have them. Why shouldn't we be able to adopt a child?"

"Because, Buffy!" Angel cried. "We're both unemployed. Neither of us makes any income. According to our official records we live off my inheritance from my somewhat wealthy family. We're both really young, according to our records anyway. You have a somewhat questionable record, with burning down the gym at your school in LA, becoming a murder suspect a few years ago, even if you were found innocent, and being a college dropout. I hardly have any records at all. I don't really think we'd be seen a suitable candidates. I even if they said yes, I'm not sure I'd really feel right about bringing an innocent child into our lives of danger. Who knows what could happen to them? Even if we could have kids, despite the fact that what you said is true, I would love to be a father, I wouldn't feel comfortable doing it. Because anything could happen to a baby of ours. And I would never forgive myself for letting anything happen to our child. So let's the drop the subject, ok?"

Buffy was surprised. She hadn't heard him admit that before, especially not as angrily as he just had. "I'm sorry." She said quietly.

Angel sighed. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten mad like that. Can we just talk about something else, please?"

"Ok."

Suddenly they heard someone shout, "Buffy! Angel!" They turned around and saw Spike running toward them down the street. "Has Giles found you yet?" he asked as he reached them.

"Giles?" Angel asked, frowning.

"Why? What happened?" Buffy asked.

"It's Dawn." Spike said.

Buffy's eyes widened in alarm. "Dawn? What happened to Dawn?"

"Apparently she and her friend tricked all of you. She's not at her friend's house, she's out wandering around somewhere. And we've got signs of vampires tonight."

"We have to find her." Buffy said. "You guys come with me."

"Vampires on Halloween." Angel sighed as he and Spike followed Buffy. "No one has any standards these days."

"You're telling me." Spike agreed.

**0000000ooooooooo0000000**

Buffy, Angel, and Spike found Giles surrounded by several vampires, one of which had Dawn. They joined him. Buffy looked around, and then looked at Dawn angrily. "You were parking with a vampire?"

"I didn't know he was a vampire." Dawn said

"Well-" the vampire began.

"Shut up." Dawn cut him off.

"How could you not know?" Buffy asked.

"Well I only just met him."

"Oh, so you were parking with a guy you just met?"

"Well we've seen each other at parties." The vampire said.

"Shut up." Buffy told him.

"Well it's not like you've never been with a vampire." Dawn said. "Look at the ring on your finger and think about the man who gave it to you."

"I'm standing right here." Angel said, looking hurt.

"Could we get on with this?" a different vampire asked.

Buffy looked around again. "Did anyone come here just to make out?" One couple off to the side raised their hands. "Aw, that's so sweet." Buffy said. She pointed at them. "You, run." They did, and then she pointed at a vampire. "You, scream."

The vampire holding Dawn looked at her. "Your sister's the Slayer!" he cried. "I knew there was something different about you!"

Angel shot at him with the crossbow and yelled, "Dawn, run!" before following Spike into the woods.

Spike had a vampire cornered against a tree. "What is this?" he demanded as Angel ran over to help. "We never come out on Halloween!"

"We do!" the vamp yelled. "We're rebels!" Angel rolled his eyes.

"No, I'm a rebel." Spike said. "You're an idiot." Angel tossed him a stake, and Spike killed the vampire.

"He was an idiot." Angel agreed. "Come on, Buffy's probably almost done." They ran back over to the clearing, where Buffy had just staked the last vamp. Dawn came wandering slowly back over, holding the vampire's jacket in her arms. Angel looked at Buffy. "Home?"

She nodded. "Home."

**00000000ooooooooo00000000**

Once they were home, Xander, Anya, and Giles left. Willow and Tara went to bed, looking rather upset with each other. Buffy looked at Dawn sitting in the dining room, and then back at Angel. "Would you talk to her?" she asked.

Angel sighed. "Are you sure you don't want to?" Buffy nodded. "Fine."

"Thank you." She kissed him. "I'm going to bed."

Angel nodded. "I'll be there in a few minutes." Buffy nodded and went upstairs. Angel walked over and sat down next to Dawn. "We need to have a talk." He said.

"Is this the part where you tell me you're not angry, just disappointed?" Dawn asked.

"Pretty much. Except for the part about not being angry."

Dawn looked at the floor. "I'm sorry." She whispered. "He just…he didn't act like a vampire."

Angel sighed. "Vampires never do." He said.

"I thought he really liked me." Dawn sobbed. "And I really liked him."

"I know." Angel told her. "But you have to be more careful in the future. And that means no sneaking out and wandering around town at night with boys you barely know. And no parking with boys you barely know. Or more or less being out at night with anybody you don't really know. Especially in Sunnydale."

"I won't." Dawn said. "I promise. I suppose I'm grounded now?"

"Something like that. We'll talk about that tomorrow. Go to bed." Dawn nodded, stood up, and started walking slowly to the stairs. "Dawn." Angel said. She stopped and turned around. "We are glad that you're ok."

Dawn nodded, tears in her eyes. Angel walked over and hugged her. "See you in the morning." He said.

"Goodnight." Dawn said, and went upstairs. Angel smiled and did the same.

**Please review!**


	7. Once More, With Feeling

**Chapter/episode 7: Once more, with feeling. BEST EPISODE EVER! Am I right? Come on, who doesn't love this episode? So anyway, I've included a couple of the actual songs, but I've also added a few. Some songs aren't included. I'm sorry, but the scenes wouldn't be changed at all so there's no point. A couple of them we can imagine do in fact happen but we just don't hear them. Some songs don't happen at all. But to make up for taking away some of the songs, there are additional ones as well. Four, to be exact. Three of them are NOT mine (though a couple words here and there are changed to make the song go with the story better). They are in fact from something else. See if you can figure out what they're from. I'll tell you in the author's note at the end of this chapter. There is one song that is mine that I wrote myself just to try to write a song. Tell me what you think of it! Ok, enough authors note, on to fantastic story. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I also do NOT own the songs _"My Freeze Ray", "My Eyes", _or _"Brand New Day"_. They belong to Joss Whedon (that's a big hint, by the way). _"My Eyes" _is changed quite a bit. I DO own the song _"You've Gotta Know"_. **

Buffy was out on patrol. She had wanted to go alone tonight, and Angel, who was trying to be understanding about her needing space, agreed, so he was staying home. He was hanging out with Dawn, Willow, and Tara, and they were going to watch a movie.

"I found a good movie." Dawn said, walking into the living room.

"We need snacks." Tara said, and Willow nodded in agreement. Angel smiled and they all got up to go to the kitchen. They returned a few minutes later with popcorn, candy, and soda for the girls and blood for Angel. Dawn started the movie.

They were about halfway through it when Xander walked in. "Hi guys." He said.

"Shh." Dawn said. "We're watching a movie."

"Sorry." Xander replied. "I just wanted to get my jacket, I left it here earlier today and you know how huffy Anya gets about that stuff."

"That's nice." Angel said absentmindedly. Xander rolled his eyes.

"Oh, by the way, the water in my apartment building will be shut off tomorrow and I was wondering if I could come here and do some laundry." Xander asked.

"Sure." Willow said, looking at him and smiling. "Feel free. Now if you don't mind…"

"Right, I'll let you get back." He finished, grinning. He turned to go, and as he walked out the door he sang something over his shoulder._ "Laundry Day!"_

Willow sang back as he shut the door._ "See you there. Under things, tumbling."_

She looked back at the TV. The others started singing too, describing the actions of the character on the movie. Tara sang, mockingly impersonating the character, _"Want to say, love your hair. Here I go. Mumbling."_

Angel sang, _"With my freeze ray I will stop the world."_

Dawn joined in, _"With my freeze ray I will find the time to find the words to,"_

And then all together, "_Tell you how. How you make. Make me feel. What's the phrase?"_

Willow: _"Like a fool."_

Tara: _"Kinda sick."_

Dawn: _"Special needs."_

Angel cut in. _"Anyways. With my freeze ray I will stop the pain."_

Willow sang, _"It's not a death ray or an ice beam, that's all the other guy, I just think you need time to know,"_

Tara: _"That I'm the guy to make it real."_

Angel: _"The feelings you don't dare to feel."_

Dawn: _"I'll bend the world to our will,"_

Then everyone sang together again. "_And we'll make time stand still!"_

Willow and Tara got up and started dancing together. Angel and Dawn followed suit. They danced around the living room to the music from no apparent source. Dawn sang, _"That's the plan."_

Then Willow, _"Rule the world."_

Tara: _"You and me. Any day."_

They sat back down and looked at the screen. Willow glanced at Tara and said, _"Love your hair. Anyway,"_

All four of them finished with, _"With my freeze ray I will stop!"_

The mysterious music ended and they all stopped singing. Angel stopped the movie and they all stared at each other. "What just happened?" Angel asked.

"Were we singing?" Dawn asked, frowning.

"That was weird." Willow said slowly.

"Yeah." Tara agreed. "You know, forget the movie, I'm going to bed."

"I'll come too." Willow said quickly.

"Bed sounds good." Dawn agreed in a hurry.

"Oh yeah, it was a sappy movie anyway. Time for bed." Angel said, and they all dropped their stuff and ran to their rooms as fast as they could.

Angel lay in bed for a long time, partly waiting for Buffy and partly wondering what the heck had happened in the living room, because that was not normal behavior. Yes, they always mocked the characters in movies, but they never did it while singing.

Buffy eventually came home and crawled into bed. She seemed distracted too. "You all went to bed early." She commented vaguely.

"Yeah." Angel sighed. "We were…tired."

And they didn't talk for the rest of the evening.

**The Next Morning**

Everyone met at the magic shop, except for Dawn, who was at school. "How did patrol go last night, Buffy?" Giles asked.

"Fine." Buffy said. She hesitated, then looked at everyone and asked, "Last night…did any of you guys…burst into song?"

"Yes!" Angel, Willow, and Tara said at the same time. Xander, Anya, and Giles nodded.

"It was weird." Xander said.

"Yeah! Tara, Angel, Dawn and I were just watching a movie and suddenly we were singing and dancing too!" Willow said.

"Yours involved dancing?" Xander asked.

"Well it happened to me on patrol." Buffy said. "I think we should figure it out…before it happens again."

As if one queue, Giles sang, _"I've got a theory, that it's a demon. A dancing demon, eh, something isn't right there."_

Willow started as well. _"I've got a theory, some kid is dreamin, and we're all stuck inside his crazy Broadway nightmare."_

Angel started next, _"I've got a theory, we should work this out."_

They all joined. _"It's getting eerie, what's this cheery singing all about?"_

Xander: _"It could be witches, some evil witches." _He then saw the looks on Willow and Tara's faces and sang hastily, _"Which is ridiculous cause witches they were persecuted wicca good and love the earth and woman power and I'll be over here."_

Anya stood up and sang, _"I've got a theory, it could be bunnies."_

They all stared at her. Tara started, _"I've got a theory-"_

But Anya cut her off as the music became faster and she sang, _"Bunnies aren't just cute like everybody supposes. They got those hoppy legs, and twitchy little noses. And what's with all the carrots? What do they need such good eyesight for anyway? Bunnies, bunnies, it must be bunnies!" _Then, seeing the way they were all staring at her, she added, _"Or maybe midgets?"_

Angel shook his head and sang, _"I've got a theory, we've been pulled to the singing dimension. Maybe someone hoped to fill our lives with tension."_

Willow: _"I've got a theory, we should work this fast."_

Giles joined and they both sang, _"Because it clearly could get serious before it's past."_

Buffy finally sang, _"I've got a theory, it doesn't matter." _The others gave her strange looks, and Angel frowned. She continued: _"What can't we face if we're together? What's in this place that we can't weather? Apocalypse. We've all been there. The same old tricks. Why should we care?"_

They all sang together. _"What can't we do if we get in it? We'll work it through within a minute. We have to try. We'll pay the price. It's do or die."_

Buffy: _"Hey I've died twice!"_

Everyone: _"What can't we face if we're together? What's in this place that we can't weather? There's nothing we can't face."_

Anya added, _"Except for Bunnies."_

The song ended, and they all looked at each other. "So what's causing it?" Buffy asked.

Giles smiled a little. "I thought it didn't matter."

Buffy looked a little embarrassed. "Well, I'm not exactly shaking in my boots, but I'd still like to know what's going on."

"Well, is it just us?" Anya asked. Buffy and Angel looked at each other and wordlessly stood up and headed for the door. Anya continued, "I mean, is it only happening to us? Cause that would probably mean a spell, or…"

Buffy and Angel opened the door and looked up and down the street. Sure enough, directly across from them, a group of people were standing on the street in front of the dry cleaners. The man in front sang loudly, _"They got…the mustard…out!"_

All the other people in the background sang, _"They got the mustard out!"_

Buffy closed the door and turned back to the others. "It's not just us." She said.

**00000000ooooooo00000000**

After a couple of hours of researching, Dawn walked in. "You'll never guess what happened at school today!" she said.

"Everybody burst into song?" Angel guessed.

Dawn looked disappointed. "I gave birth to a pterodactyl." She said sarcastically.

"Oh my god!" Anya cried. "Did it sing?"

"What did you guys sing about?" Buffy asked.

Dawn frowned. "Math."

Willow and Tara suddenly stood up. "We have some more books at home." Willow said. "We thought we'd go look in those."

"We won't be gone long." Tara said quickly. They ran out the door, giggling and whispering to each other. Angel had to smile.

Buffy sighed and put her book down. "I need some fresh air." She said. She looked at Angel. "Do you want to take a walk with me?"

Angel nodded. "Sure. We'll be back in a few minutes, Giles."

They walked in silence from a while, hand-in-hand, until they ended up alone in a secluded part of the park. Angel finally broke the silence. "Buffy? Are you ok?"

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You're starting to worry me."

Buffy looked at him. "I don't know. Everything just seems to be falling apart around me, and nothing seems to really make me…feel. I don't really care about anything anymore, and I hate it. I want to feel alive, Angel, but I don't. Nothing's fair in this world. It's cruel and awful and falling apart, and no one seems to care." She turned away, and the next thing she said was singing. _"Any dolt with half a brain, can see that human kind has gone insane. To the point where I don't know if I'd upset the status quo, if I threw poison in the water main. Listen close to everybody's heart, and hear that breaking sound. Hopes and dreams are shattering apart, and crashing to the ground. I cannot believe my eyes! How the world's full of filth and lies! And it's plain to see evil inside of me, is on the rise."_

Angel was horrified by the words she sang, and he knew she was wrong. He took her hands and sang back, _"Look around, we're living with the lost and found. Just when you think you've almost drowned, you find yourself on solid ground. And I believe there's good in every human's heart, you keep it safe and sound. I know that you do your part, you turned my life around. I cannot believe my eyes! To think I thought the world was growing wise! And it's plain to see, the hero inside of me, is on the rise."_

They stopped singing and stared at each other. "Surely you don't really believe a word of what you said. I mean, sang." Angel said. "Buffy, there is not evil inside of you. I know this. You're having a hard time adjusting, and that's normal, I'd be amazed if you didn't. As it is I'm amazed you've done this well. You are a wonderful person, Buffy. Don't ever let that go."

Buffy just looked at him, and then kissed him.

**00000000ooooooo00000000**

**That Night**

"We'll be back soon." Buffy called.

"No worries!" Willow called back. Buffy and Angel were going out to patrol. Angel had insisted on going that night, partly because he didn't want Buffy to go alone, and partly because he didn't want to stay with Dawn, Willow, and Tara and have them see him sing again. He'd really like to limit how much of that they saw.

They walked to the cemetery, side by side. "How do you feel?" Angel asked.

"Better. I've been thinking a lot about what you were telling me. You're right. It's been so hard since I came back. But I can get through it." She looked at him and gave a small smile. "As long as I have you, I can get through it."

They arrived at the cemetery. Buffy walked ahead of Angel, looking at the graves. Angel watched her. Before he knew it, he had begun to sing. _"She's really so amazing, I really don't deserve her, and she deserves better than me. I know she says I'm all she needs but sometimes I wonder, if she'd be better off, if she would really see, how her life's been changed because of me. I couldn't ask for a better girl, she's something worth living for in this world. But I also know I've damaged her beyond repair."_

He continued. _"She'll never have a family and it's all my fault. I put her in so much danger I should lock her in a vault. I love her so much, but I should have let her go. Cause darling, you've gotta know. You've gotta know how much you're my world. You've gotta know I need your love. You've gotta know the guilt I feel for what I've done to you. Baby, you've gotta know."_

Buffy glanced at him, and she sang too. _"I love him so much, but he just doesn't get it. For someone so old, he can be pretty dumb. He thinks that he's damned me, but he's a perfect fit. I'd rather have him than a family. I'd rather have him than sunlight. It's true I'd have kids, but not if they weren't his. I love him, even when we fight."_

She still sang, _"I need him like I need air. This is real, true love that we share. I'm never gonna let him go. Cause darling, you've gotta know. You've gotta know that I can't live without you. You've gotta know that this love is real. You've gotta know nothing's ending this, I died and it couldn't tear us apart. Baby, you've gotta know."_

They looked at each other and sang together. _"You've just got to realize, you're my everything. No one else comes close to this, and that's how it's going to stay. Darling, baby, I can't leave you. Baby, you've gotta know."_

They kissed. When they pulled apart, Buffy said, "The singing's not that bad, you know."

"It's not when you're the only one around. I'm pretty sure Dawn was laughing at me last night." He kissed her again. "I love you. We should probably patrol now."

Buffy pouted. "Do we have to?"

Angel grinned. "For a little while. Maybe we can cut it short tonight, though…"

**00000000ooooooo00000000**

**The Next Day**

"Spike?" Buffy called as she opened the door to his crypt. Angel followed her, looking around. Spike walked over.

"Hello Pet, Peaches." He said. "Come to serenade me?"

"Ha-ha." Angel growled. "So you know what's going on then?"

"I know I've seen some pretty strange things in the last couple of days." Spike replied.

Buffy smiled a little. "Oh, us too, believe me."

"So do you know what's causing it?" Angel asked.

Spike shook his head. "Nope. Don't know a thing. Now if you don't mind, I have things to do."

Buffy laughed. "Like what? Watching _Passions_?"

"Among other things." Spike said defensively.

Buffy shook her head, still laughed. "Come on, Angel. Let's leave Spike to his important television watching." Angel nodded and started to follow her outside.

"Angel, could I have a word?" Spike asked.

Angel sighed. "You go on, I'll catch up." He told Buffy, and turned back to Spike. "What do you want?"

"I'd appreciate it if I wasn't your first suspect in everything that goes wrong. In case you've forgotten, I'm on your side."

"You weren't a suspect, Spike. We asked you if you knew anything. If you were a suspect, I'd have beaten you for information. And I would have enjoyed it."

"Well why assume I'll know something?" Spike asked. "I'm not exactly on good terms with the local big bad these days."

"No, but you still here stuff. I was a kitten poker a few weeks ago, remember?"

"And did I get any information? No!" Spike cried.

"What is this about, Spike? Why do you even care?" Angel asked, annoyed.

"You keep treating me like I'm still the enemy."

"Why does it bother you?"

"Because I'm not."

"Spike, last time I checked, you were still among the soulless. So no, I don't completely trust you. I tolerate you, because I have been helpful. But I watch your every move. So stop complaining." He turned and left.

Spike watched him go, furious. Then he started singing. _"Disappeared is a moral dilemma cause at first it was weird that we swore to eliminate the worst of the plague that devoured humanity it's true I was vague on the how so how can it be that you, have shown me the light?"_

He threw the door to his crypt open and walked out into the just fallen darkness. _"It's a brand new day, and the sun is high, all the birds are singing that you're gonna die. How I hesitated, now I wonder why, it's a brand new day!"_

He walked through the cemetery to he could see Angel with Buffy in the distance, talking as they walked. _"All that times that you beat me unconscious, I'll forgive. All the crime incompleteness and honestly, I'll live. Mr. Cool, Mr. Right, Mr. Know-it-All is through. Now the future's so bright, and I owe it all to you, you showed me the light."_

He jumped onto the roof of a nearby crypt and looked down at the graveyard below him. _"It's a brand new me, I've got no remorse, now the water's rising but I know the course. I'm gonna shock their world, gonna show my worse, it's a brand new day."_

He jumped down and kept watching them. _"And Buffy will see the evil me, not a joke, not a dork, not a failure. And she may cry, but her tears will dry, when I hand her the keys to her own brand new destruction!"_

_ "It's a brand new day, yeah the sun is high, and the angels sing, because you're gonna die! Go ahead and laugh, yeah I'm a funny guy! It's a brand new day!"_

He turned away from them angrily to go back to his crypt, and accidently fell into an open grave. "Ow!"

**00000000ooooooooo00000000**

"Any luck?" Buffy asked Angel as she returned from her training session in the back.

Angel sighed and slammed his book shut. "No." he said, looking frustrated.

Willow walked over. "I found a few more books." She said, setting them on the table. She looked up and smiled. "Tara, hi." She said, seeing Tara standing behind Buffy. Tara didn't say anything. Willow frowned.

Spike suddenly burst in, dragging some sort of demon with him. "Look what I found." He said. Everyone ran over to look.

"Who is it?" Xander asked.

"I don't know, but I'm guessing he works for whatever is turning the town into the Sound of Music." Spike said.

Angel looked at it. "Does it talk?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. It hasn't yet."

The demons suddenly opened its' mouth and took a deep breath, and for a second everyone expected it to sing. Instead, however, it said, "If the Slayer wishes to see her sister again, then she must come to the Bronze by nightfall. If she does not come, her sister will die." The demon then ran out of the room.

"They've got Dawn." Angel said.

"Oh my god." Tara said. "I only left her alone for a minute, I swear."

"So, Dawn's in trouble." Buffy said. "Must be Tuesday."

"What are you going to do?" Willow asked.

"What else can I do? I'm going to the Bronze." Buffy replied.

"I'll go with you." Angel said immediately.

"Me too." Spike said.

"All of us are going." Xander said.

"No." Giles said suddenly. "Buffy's going alone." Everybody stopped and looked at him in surprise.

"What?" Spike asked.

"You can't send her over there alone!" Tara said.

"We're a team." Willow said. "If Buffy's going, we all are."

"Why don't you want to help me?" Buffy asked Giles. Giles looked uncomfortable.

"Everyone is going." Angel said firmly. "Dawn is in danger and we don't know anything about this guy. I'm not sending Buffy alone."

"Deadboy's right." Xander said. "We're going to see this through."

Giles sighed. "Ok." He said finally. "Let's go."

**00000000ooooooooo00000000**

Buffy broke down the door, and they all went inside the Bronze. "Buffy!" Dawn cried when she saw her. "I'm sorry, it wasn't my fault!"

"Stay back." Buffy told the others. She walked into the center of the room. A demon was standing next to Dawn, looking at Buffy intently. Everyone else watched.

"She's going to sing, isn't she?" Spike asked Angel.

"Most likely." Angel replied.

And she did. _"Life's a show, and we all play our parts, and when the music starts, we open up our hearts. It's alright if some things come out wrong, we'll sing a happy song, and you can sing along."_

She started fighting the demon's minions as they ran forward to attack her. _"Where there's life, there's hope, everyday's a gift, wishes can come true, whistle while you work so hard all day," _she finished fighting the minions and faced the demon again. _"To be like other girls. To fit in in this glittering whirl. Don't give me songs. Don't give me songs."_

"She needs backup." Giles said. "Tara, Anya." Tara and Anya ran up behind Buffy and sang in the background as she continued.

_ "Give me something to sing about! I need something to sing about." _She started dancing as Tara and Anya retreated to where the others were standing. Then she continued. _"Life's a song, you don't get to rehearse. And every single verse, can make it that much worse. Still my friends don't know why I ignore, the million things or more, I should be dancing for." _She started dancing again, but kept singing. _"All the joy, life sends. Family, and friends. All the twists, and bends. Knowing that it ends. Well that depends," _she stopped dancing. _"On if they let you go. On if they know enough to know, that when you vowed, you leave the crowd."_

Angel had a horrible feeling he knew where this was going. He watch as she slowed down and sang more quietly, _"There was no pain. No fear or doubt, till they pulled me out, of heaven." _Even though everyone already knew what had happened, it was painful to hear her say it like that. _"So that's my refrain. I live in hell, cause I've been expelled, from Heaven. I think I was in Heaven." _Angel could see Willow crying, while Tara put her arm around her.

After a moment, Buffy looked at the demon again. _"So give me something to sing about! Please! Give me something!" _With that, she started dancing again. This time, however, she didn't stop. The others watched as she started going faster. Angel felt a jolt of fear. Some of the people in town had started bursting into flames while dancing, and that's what was going to happen to Buffy. Without thinking, he ran forward and grabbed her by the shoulders so she would stop. She looked at him.

He sang this time. _"Life's not a song. Life isn't bliss, life is just this, it's living. You'll get along. The pain that you feel, you only can heal, by living. You have to go on living. So one of us it living."_

Dawn said, just loud enough so they could hear, "The hardest thing in this word is to live in it." Buffy looked at Angel again and kissed him.

The demon started clapping. "Now that was a show-stopping number." He said.

"Give me back my sister." Buffy said fiercely as the rest of the Scooby Gang joined them in the middle of the room. "And stop making everybody dance themselves to death! _Literally_!"

"Fine, you've beaten me. I accept that. The dancing and singing will stop. But the girl and I have a contract." The demon said.

"Contract?" Buffy and Angel asked at the same time.

"Buffy, I don't know what he's talking about!" Dawn insisted.

"You summoned me with the necklace." The demon said, pointing to the necklace Dawn was wearing. "Whoever summons me has to stay with me and become my queen."

"Oh dear god." Angel groaned.

Buffy looked at Dawn. "You summoned him?" she asked angrily.

"No!" Dawn cried. "I swear I didn't! I found the necklace on the floor at the magic shop, and I just took it because I thought it was just something someone had dropped. It didn't even look like it came from the shop."

"But if Dawn didn't summon him…" Angel began slowly.

"Then one of us did." Giles finished, looking around at the group as he spoke.

After a moment, Xander slowly raised his hand. "It was me." He sighed.

"Xander!" Anya cried.

"Well I didn't know that people would start bursting into flames!" Xander cried. "I just thought there would be dancing and singing and happiness!"

Everyone looked at the demon. "You have to let Dawn go, then." Angel said.

"Yes, it would appear so." The demon agreed. Dawn ran into Angel's arms.

Xander looked horrified. "Does this mean I have to…" he took a deep breath, "…be your queen?"

Anya looked equally horrified. It took everything Angel had to keep from laughing. The demon hesitated. "It's tempting." He said. "But I think we'll overlook that particular clause just this once."

"Then you need to leave." Buffy said.

The demon smiled. _"What a lot of fun, you guys have been real swell." _He sang. _"And there's not one who can say this, ended well. All those secrets you've been concealing, say you're happy now. Once more with feeling. Now I've gotta run, see you all…in Hell!"_

Everyone looked at each other. "So that's it then." Anya said. "It's over."

"Yeah." Spike said. After a moment he asked, "Now what?"

_"Where do we go from here?" _Dawn sang.

_ "Where do we go from here?" _Everyone else echoed.

_ "The battle's done, and we kinda won," _Giles began.

_"So we sound our victory cheer." _Everyone sang together. _"Where do we go from here?"_

Xander and Anya sang together, _"Why is the path unclear? When we know home is near?"_

All together: _"Understand we'll go hand in hand, but we'll walk alone in fear!"_

Giles: _"Tell me!"_

Everyone: _"Where do we go from here?"_

Buffy and Angel sang, _"When does the end appear? When do the trumpets cheer?"_

Together: _"The curtains close on a kiss, god knows, we can tell the end is near! Where do we go from here? Where do we go from here? Where do we go…"_

Angel stopped singing and kissed Buffy just as the others finished with, _"From here!"_

**Whew! You have no idea how long it took me to write that. I have probably spent more time on that chapter than any other chapter I have written for Buffy and Angel so far. It's probably my favorite Buffy episode of all time, though, so I hope you enjoyed it. The next chapter is Tabula Rasa, another very funny episode. So for those of you who didn't figure it out: _"My Freeze Ray", "My Eyes", _and _"Brand New Day" _are from _Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, _a short movie by Joss Whedon. If you haven't seen it, I recommend it. Again, I do not own _Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog _or any of the songs I took from it, they belong to Joss Whedon. Please review!**


	8. Tabula Rasa

**Chapter/episode 8: Tabula Rasa. Great episode. Very funny. Enjoy yourselves.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer**

"Angel, come on!" Buffy called loudly. "Giles wanted me to get to the meeting early, he says he has to talk to me!"

"I'm coming!" Angel yelled back from upstairs. He knocked on Dawn's bedroom door. "Ready Dawnie?"

"Ready." She opened the door. "All set for the Scooby meeting." She smiled.

"Good, Buffy's getting impatient." Angel said. Dawn nodded and headed downstairs, and Angel stopped in the doorway of Willow and Tara's bedroom. "Do you guys want to come with us? We're going to the Magic Box early."

He looked at the two girls, who were standing on opposite sides of the room from each other, looking unusually distant. He knew they'd been fighting, and he hoped they got through it. Tara smiled. "Sure, I'll come. Willow?"

"Um, I'm not ready to go yet." Willow said. "You guys go, I'll catch a ride with Xander."

Tara frowned, but didn't comment. "Ok, see you later." She followed Angel out of the room.

Buffy and Dawn were waiting for them downstairs. "Took you long enough." Buffy said. "Angel's driving." She threw his keys at him. He caught them and rolled his eyes. She smirked.

"What would you do without me?" Angel asked playfully.

Buffy giggled. "Hmm, I don't know." She kissed him.

Dawn cleared her throat. "Ok, you guys can make out later, can we go to the Magic Box now?"

Buffy and Angel both glared at her, annoyed. "Fine, let's go." Buffy said.

**0000000ooooooo0000000**

Angel, Buffy, Dawn, and Tara entered the magic shop. Anya looked up from the cash register. "Giles!" she called. "They're here."

Giles came out from the back. "Ah, Buffy, good. I need to speak with you in private."

"Ok." Buffy replied. She gave Angel a kiss before following Giles into the back.

Dawn went to go look at some stuff around the shop, and Anya continued to count the money. Angel sat down at the table with Tara. "So how are things with you and Willow?" he asked gently.

Tara looked at him and saw the care in his eyes. He wanted to make sure they were ok. "Not great." She admitted. "I found out…she's been using a spell on me. To make me forget about things…like our fights."

Angel was shocked to hear that Willow had done that. "Tara, I'm sorry."

"I told her she had to go a week without doing magic…or I was going to leave." Tara whispered. Angel reached out and squeezed her hand comfortingly.

"I'm sure it will work out in the end." He said. Tara managed to give him a small smile.

"Thanks." She said. Tara liked Angel. She didn't see why everyone was always so wary of him. True, she had never met Angelus (she heard he wasn't nearly as nice), but Angel had always seemed like a nice guy to her. He loved Buffy so much that no existing metaphor could possibly describe it. And he always seemed to care about everyone else, too.

Suddenly Buffy burst through the training room door and sat down at the table, her arms crossed over her chest. She looked furious and sad and hurt all at once. "Buffy?" Angel asked gently. He reached out his hand but she pulled away. Angel looked at Giles. "What happened?" he asked. Giles didn't answer.

Willow and Xander came in. Willow was wearing Xander's jacket. Tara didn't make eye contact with Willow. "Everyone's here." Angel said, still looking at Buffy. "Are you ok?" he asked quietly. Buffy only looked up at him, but he could tell by the look on her face that she was not ok. He moved to the chair next to her and wrapped his arms tightly around her. She rested her head on his shoulder, comforted by his touch.

"Well." Giles said. "I've called you all here to make an announcement. I understand this is rather sudden-"

"Just tell them." Buffy said sharply. Angel tightened his embrace, wishing he could do something about her emotional pain.

"Right, well." Giles said. "I'm going back to England. Tonight."

Angel understood instantly why Buffy was so upset. Giles was her father. Maybe not biologically, but he was like her father to her. The wedding they had originally planned had been proof of that, even if that wedding never happened. When her real father said he wasn't coming, it had been Giles who had walked her down the aisle. Buffy though of Giles more as her father then her real father, and Angel knew Giles thought of Buffy as a daughter. But he also knew why Giles was leaving. He thought he was standing in the way of Buffy achieving greatness.

"You're leaving?" Anya asked.

"Why so soon?" Willow asked, looking sad.

Giles was about to answer when Spike suddenly came running through the door, wearing a suite. "What do you want, Spike?" Angel asked, irritated.

"They're after me." Spike said. "I owe them kittens…you've got to let me stay here for a little while."

"Kittens?" Tara asked.

"Spike-"Angel began, and then they all passed out.

**0000000ooooooo0000000**

Who knows how long they were passed out, but they did eventually wake up. Spike was on the counter, Willow and Xander were on the floor together, Dawn was on the floor, Tara was in her chair, Anya and Giles were slumped together in a chair, and Buffy and Angel were both in their own chairs, like Tara. Spike sat up, fell off the counter, and screamed like a girl.

"What's going on?" Anya asked, looking around.

"Who are all of you?" Angel asked, looking around. "More importantly, who am I?"

"I don't know who I am either." Buffy said, frowning.

"Does anybody remember who they are?" Willow asked. Everybody shook their heads.

"It looks like we're in a magic shop." Tara said, looking around.

"Ah, magic." Giles said. "Magic's all balderdash. I'm afraid we don't know a damn thing. Except I seem to be British, don't I? And a man. With glasses. Well, that narrows it down considerably."

"I think you and I are engaged." Anya said to Giles slowly. "Look, I'm wearing a ring, and you and I were sitting together."

"We're engaged?" Giles said, looking intrigued. "Well, that's splendid."

"Oh, look at Mary Poppins." Spike said. "He's got his crust all stiffened up with his nancy-boy accent. You Englishmen are always so…bloody hell. Sodding, blimey, shagging, knickers, bullocks. Oh, god. I'm English."

"Welcome to the nancy tribe." Giles said. "Do you suppose we're…?"

"Yeah, probably." Spike agreed.

"Brother?"

"Father." Spike said. "You're definitely my father."

"Everybody look for an I.D. of some kind." Angel suggested.

Everybody searched their pockets. "I'm Willow Rosenburg." Willow said. "Huh, funny name."

"I think it's pretty." Tara said.

"Thanks. Oh, look, I'm a student at UC Sunnydale." Willow said.

"Me too." Tara replied. "My name is Tara."

"I'm Alexander Harris." Xander said.

"My name is Anya." Anya said. She looked at Giles. "What about you?"

"I'm, uh, Rupert Giles." Giles said.

"Rupert." Anya said, looking lovingly at Giles.

"Rupert." Spike laughed. Giles glared at him.

"You're not too old to put across my knee you know, sonny. Anyway, what did I call you?"

Spike checked his pockets until he found something inside his suite. "Made with care for Randy." He looked up at Giles, outraged. "Randy Giles? Why don't you just call me Horny Giles or Desperate for a shag Giles? I knew there was a reason I hated you!"

"Randy's a family name, undoubtedly." Giles said.

Angel found a drivers license in his pocket. "I'm Liam." He said. "Liam Angel."

"I don't have anything." Buffy said.

"Neither do I." Dawn said.

Buffy smiled at her. "Look." She walked over to her and pointed to her necklace. "You're Dawn."

Dawn looked down at her necklace. She grinned. "Or Umad. What about you?"

"I'll pick a name for myself." Buffy said. "I'll be…Joan."

Dawn made a face. "Joan?"

"Yeah."

"Ew."

"Joan" looked hurt. "I like it. I feel like a Joan."

"Well I think it sounds stupid."

"Whatever, Umad." "Joan" retorted.

Dawn looked thoughtful. "Do you think we're-"

"Sisters?" "Joan" finished. They both laughed and hugged.

"You never show me affection like that." "Randy" said. Giles gave him a weird look. "I'd wager." "Randy" added.

"Hey," Willow said. "This jacket say, "Harris","

"That's my last name." Xander said. "Hey, maybe I have a brother and you're his girlfriend."

Willow giggled. "Or maybe I'm your girlfriend. I did wake up in your arms."

"You're my girlfriend?" Xander said, looking delighted. "Cool!"

"So what do we do now?" "Liam" asked.

"We could go out and see the town. Maybe it will make us remember something." Tara suggested.

"That's a good idea." Willow said, smiling at Tara.

"Dad can drive." "Randy" said. Giles rolled his eyes.

They all headed toward the door. "Joan" opened it, and they all came face to face with several vampires.

They all screamed. "Joan" slammed the door shut and the all hid behind a shelf.

"Did you see that?" "Liam" asked frantically.

"Vampires!" "Randy" cried.

"Maybe it's Halloween." Tara said hopefully.

"It doesn't feel like Halloween." Dawn moaned.

"Well even if it is," Xander pointed out, "Those guys are definitely not kids and those are definitely not costumes. Randy's right, looks like we've got vampires."

"Slayer!" one of the vampires shouted from outside.

"And they're definitely not knocking for candy." Xander added.

"Ok, doors, we need to check to see if there's other doors, and make sure they're locked, and put large objects in front of them, come on!" Willow said frantically, grabbing Xander and running off.

"Spike!" one of the vampires yelled.

"They want spikes." "Liam" said.

"There!" Tara cried, pointing. "Joan" and Dawn ran and got some and threw a couple outside.

"Slayer!" a vampire growled.

"What did he say?" "Joan" asked as she and Dawn crouched back down with the others.

"I think he said 'Slay her'." "Randy" said.

"Joan" looked down at the spike in her hand. Dawn said, "They're going to use the spikes to-"

"To slay someone?" "Joan" finished, looking outraged. "A female someone! Who do those jerks think they are?"

"Blood suckers." Anya said. "They kill by sucking blood. Take it easy, Joan."

"Hey, guys!" Willow appeared, Xander behind her. "Alex and I found a door in the basement that leads to the sewers."

"We can escape that way." Giles realized. "Come on."

They stood up just as a vampire burst through the door. He headed right for "Joan", who deflected the blow by instinct. She may not have remembered who she was, but a Slayer was a fighter by nature, no matter what. Unsure of herself at first, she attacked the vampire by kicking it in the face. She spun around and hit him again. She kicked him in the chest and he stumbled back. "Liam" instinctively jumped out with a stake and turned him to dust. "Joan" and "Liam" looked at each other.

"Wow." Dawn said.

"I think I know why Joan is in charge." "Joan" said. "I'm like a superhero. You are too, Liam."

"Maybe we should try to fight off the vampires." "Liam" said. "You and me, and the others go down the sewer."

"Joan" nodded. "Randy" stepped forward. "I'll come too. I feel like I belong out there, fighting with you guys. Maybe I'm a superhero too."

"Alright." "Joan" agreed. "Everybody else, escape through the sewer."

The others nodded and headed to the back of the shop. Giles paused. "Some of us should stay here, try to undo the spell."

"Good idea." "Joan" agreed. "How about you and Anya stay."

Giles and Anya agreed. "Um, sonny." Giles said awkwardly to "Randy".

"Oh, right." "Randy" said. They hugged uncomfortably.

"Joan", "Liam", and "Randy" faced the door. "Stay close to me." "Liam" whispered to "Joan". "I feel very protective of you for some reason."

They burst outside and started fighting off the vampires. As they fought, however, "Liam" and "Randy" both vamped out without realizing it. "Joan" staked a vampire and turned to look at them. "I think we're winning!" "Liam" said enthusiastically to her. "Joan" stared at them in horror, and then screamed and ran away.

"What was that about?" "Randy" asked. He and "Liam" looked at each other. They both yelled and jumped back.

"You're a vampire!" they both shouted at each other at the same time.

"What do you mean, I'm a vampire?" "Randy" demanded. "You're the vampire!"

"I'm not a vampire!" "Liam" cried. Then they both slowly looked at each other, and then touched their faces. "Oh my god." "Liam" cried. "I'm a vampire."

"I'm a vampire too." "Randy" said. He looked at "Liam". "We're vampires." He paused, and then continued thoughtfully. "So why don't I feel like drinking people's blood?"

"I don't feel like that either." "Liam" said. "We should find Joan and try to work this out." "Randy" nodded, and the two of them ran down the street.

"Joan" saw them coming. She ran straight for them, stake in hand. They jumped out of the way. "No, Joan, we just want to talk!" "Randy" shouted, as "Liam" grabbed her stake and threw it aside.

"Joan" glared at them. "You're vampires. I kill your kind."

"And I bite yours." "Liam" returned easily. "So why don't I feel like killing you?"

"Maybe we're good vampires!" "Randy" cried enthusiastically. "Yeah, that's it! I'm a vampire with a soul! I help the helpless! I'm on a mission of redemption!"

"A vampire with a soul?" "Joan" said, frowning. "How lame is that?"

"I don't know why," "Liam" said, "But I feel like I should be really offended."

Before any of them could respond, a group of vampires started coming toward them down the street. The three of them prepared for a fight…and then their memories returned. Buffy fell to her knees as the horrid memories of the past months came flooding back. "Buffy!" Angel cried, grabbing her arm and crouching down next to her. Tears were running down her cheeks. "Buffy, it's ok." Angel soothed her quietly. "I'm right here, sweetheart, I'm right here."

Spike ran for the vamps. He picked up Buffy's stake and killed the first one. "Angel, take her home!" he shouted. "I can take care of this."

"Thanks, Spike." Angel scooped Buffy into his arms and ran down the street.

**00000000oooooooo00000000**

Buffy was walking on her own by the time they got back to the house. When they got there, they found Tara packing boxes. Angel knew it must have been Willow who had taken away their memories. And Tara was leaving her.

They went up to their bedroom and shut the door. "Are you ok?" Angel asked as he sat on the bed next to her.

"I'll be alright." She replied. "It was just a lot of bad memories coming back all at once, it kind of overcame me for a few minutes. I'm ok now."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Angel, I'm sure." They sat there for a few moments. Then, much to Angel's surprise, Buffy started laughing.

"What?" he asked her.

"Giles and Anya thought they were engaged." She said. She laughed again. "And I was calling myself Joan. Joan!"

Angel started laughing too. "Spike thought his name was Randy." He laughed. "And that he was Giles son!" the two of them burst out laughing uncontrollably, falling over each other on the bed.

"Oh, we were pathetic!" Buffy cried. "We were so pathetic!"

"We were." Angel agreed. "We really were."

Buffy smiled at him for a moment. Then she kissed him.

**Ha-ha, funny. That's a great episode. Anyway, just to give you a heads up: The next chapter is Smashed, which isn't exactly one of my favorite episode, but I've added some stuff that makes it a turning point of the story. Seriously guys, the next chapter is huge. Don't miss it. Please review!**


	9. Smashed

**Chapter/episode 9: Smashed. In general, kind of a depressing episode. HOWEVER, I promise you something HUGE happens in this chapter. HUGE, I TELL YOU. I REALLY LIKE CAPITAL LETTERS. But seriously, this is an important chapter. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Huge.**

"Just a good, old fashioned mugging." Buffy was saying. "It's kind of…sweet, actually. Well, not for you." She added to the poor couple being mugged. "Well, since I'm here." She picked up the woman's purse and handed it back to her. "Go. Now."

Buffy was out by herself. Angel was at home with Dawn. Buffy hadn't meant to have to break up a mugging in a dark ally, but hey, the job of a Slayer is never done. Even when the people you're fighting aren't vampires.

Buffy was beating up the muggers when something very strange happened. She all of a sudden felt very dizzy. She stumbled and fell, and then became violently sick on the ground.

"Buffy look out!" Spike suddenly jumped down next to her and punched the mugger that was creeping up on them. He yelled in pain as he watched them run away. Then he crouched next to Buffy. "You ok, Slayer?"

"Yeah. I…I don't know what happened." Buffy mumbled, wiping her mouth with her sleeve. "Maybe I'm getting sick." She tried to stand, and then held her head. "Oh, dizzy."

"I need to get you back to Angel." Spike said. "Is he at your house?"

"Yeah…" Buffy murmured. Spike picked her up. "Put me down!" she cried.

Spike looked at her. "No." he said simply. "I need to get you to Peaches."

Buffy groaned. "I hate you."

"And I'm all you've got. Now come on."

**0000000ooooooo0000000**

Angel was with Dawn in the living room when Spike carried Buffy inside. Angel was to them in an instant. "Buffy! Spike, what happened?"

"Not sure. I was wandering around town, minding my own business, when I see her beating up some guys, presumably muggers. So I stop to enjoy the show, and suddenly she falls to the ground of her own accord, no one had hit her, and she vomited all over the ground. I fought off the rest of the guys, single-handedly, and brought her back here."

"Thank you." Angel said sincerely. He pulled Buffy into his arms.

"I can walk by myself." Buffy insisted, squirming.

"Is she ok?" Dawn asked as she joined them, looking concerned.

"I'm fine!" Buffy cried. "So I got a little sick. Maybe I'm just fighting something off. I feel much better now. I promise."

"I still think you should rest." Angel said sternly.

"Fine! I'll go to bed early. Happy?"

"No, but I'll take it." Angel replied, kissing the top of her head. "If you go to bed now-"

"Can I shower first?" Buffy interrupted. "I feel all dirty."

"Fine. Shower, then bed." Angel agreed.

Buffy kissed Angel and headed upstairs. She needed a moment alone. She had to find something out.

**0000000ooooooo0000000**

Buffy sat on the floor of the bathroom, fully dressed but with her hair still wet from the shower. She held her head in her hands.

How was this possible? What would she tell Angel? Would he believe her? No, of course he would…he always believed her. And he'd be excited, right? Confused, but excited. It was going to be fine.

But still…this was…unheard of. It had never happened. Ever. Who knows what it could lead to?

Buffy groaned. Her husband was a vampire…so she couldn't be _pregnant._ But she had the test to prove it. She just wasn't sure what to do next.

It explained a lot though. Tonight wasn't the first time she'd been overcome by nausea, though it was the first time it'd happened on patrol. All the signs pointed toward it being true. It was just so hard to wrap her head around.

A baby. She took a minute to try to get it to sink in. She was going to have a baby. She would be a mom, and Angel would be a dad. Probably the first vampire in history ever to become one.

Angel…she had to tell Angel. She wasn't worried he'd be upset or anything like that. No, she was fairly sure he'd be excited by the idea of a baby. But that didn't make the idea of telling him any less scary.

She got up and walked out of the bathroom. The door to Willow's room was open. Buffy forgot her own problems for a moment as she remembered Willow's. Tara had left her. Willow was probably hurting pretty badly. She could probably use a friend. Not to mention Buffy wanted to be able to talk to someone too, and her best friend was the perfect person to talk too. Maybe they could have a venting-girls night or something.

Buffy walked into the bedroom. Willow was sitting on the bed. "Hey." Buffy said. Willow smiled at her.

"Hey." She replied.

"How are you doing?" Buffy asked. Willow understood what she meant.

"I'm doing ok. You?"

Buffy sat down. "Well, actually…I need to tell you something."

Suddenly Buffy was surprised when Amy walked over. "You blew up the school."

"Yep." Willow said.

"Blown up. Gone."

"Uh huh."

"Oh my god, Amy!" Buffy cried. "You're…Amy!"

"Hello Buffy." Amy said.

"Hi." Buffy said, still in shock. "So…how have you been?"

Amy kind of stared at her. "Rat. You?"

"Dead." Buffy replied.

"Oh." Amy said, as if this was the most normal thing in the world.

"You wanted to tell me something?" Willow asked.

"Oh…well…de-rating Amy, that's way bigger than…my thing…I should go…Angel's going to yell at me for not going to bed." Buffy stuttered. She left quickly and ran right into Angel, literally.

"There you are." Angel said, smiling gently at her. "Feeling better?"

Buffy faked a smile. "Loads." She said. After a moment of silence, Buffy said "Amy's in there. She's not a rat anymore."

"Really?" Angel said, looking slightly interested. "Good for Willow. And Amy, I suppose."

"Yeah." Buffy said. "Well, I'm going to bed now."

"Yeah, I think I'll go to bed too." Angel said. Buffy just nodded, and went in their bedroom. She just wasn't ready to tell him yet.

**0000000ooooooo0000000**

"Buffy!"

Buffy groaned and rolled over. "Dawn, I've only been asleep for like thirty minutes-"

"Wake up, Buffy! You too, Angel, something's happened!"

Buffy sighed and sat up in bed, Angel doing the same next to her. "Someone better be dead or dying." Buffy mumbled.

They came downstairs, where they found Dawn and Willow watching the news. "Buffy, check this out." Willow said.

The newscaster was at a museum. "The security guard was found frozen." She was saying. "The only thing that was stolen was a large diamond. Authorities have yet to announce any leads…"

"Frozen?" Angel repeated, frowning.

"Like an ice cube." Dawn said.

"I've never heard of a demon that freezes their victims…or has use for diamonds." Angel said, shaking his head.

"Will you go check it out?" Buffy asked Angel. "Take Spike if you want backup."

Angel was surprised. "You're not even going to try to come? I mean, I'm not going to let you anyway, but you aren't even going to try?"

Buffy shook her head. "I think I do need some sleep. You go, see if you can find anything."

"Are you sure you're ok?" Angel asked, looking worried. This wasn't like Buffy at all.

"I'm fine, just tired. Now go, hurry!"

Angel glanced at her once more as went out the door. Buffy looked at Willow and Dawn. "I'm going back to bed. Wake me up if something important happens." She headed back up the stairs.

She didn't even have time to turn the light off when someone knocked. "What?" she yelled. Willow came in and shut the door behind her.

"Hey." Willow said. "I just wondered if you still wanted to tell me something?" she smiled knowingly and sat down next to Buffy on the bed.

Buffy sighed. "Yes." She turned to Willow. "What I'm about to tell you, you can't tell anyone. Not a single person. I haven't even told Angel yet, but I will really soon."

"Cross my heart." Willow promised. "Now what's going on?"

Buffy took a deep breath, because she knew that saying it out loud would make it seem way more real. "I'm pregnant."

Willow clapped her hands over her mouth to muffle her squeal of delight. "Oh my god." She whispered. "A baby! Buffy, you're going to be a mother! And Angel's going to be a father. Buffy, this is unbelievable!"

"It really is, because vampires can't have kids. I don't know how this happened, but it did."

"This is why you've been sick."

"Yeah. I just took the test a like an hour ago, though, so I wasn't sure until tonight. I haven't found the courage to tell Angel yet."

"Courage? Buffy, he'll be thrilled. You know he'll be excited when he finds out. He likes kids, everybody knows that. He'll love having a baby, you'll see."

**0000000ooooooo0000000**

"She didn't even want to come?" Spike asked. He and Angel were at the museum, and Angel was telling him about how Buffy had just let him go.

"Nope. She just told me to take you and that she wanted to go back to bed. And why am I telling you all of this?"

"Because I'm here, and I'm so much fun to be around?"

"We're not friends."

"I didn't say we were, Peaches. And anyway, you were saying about Buffy?"

"It's just so unlike her. I mean, I wasn't going to let her go anyway, but usually she argues with me until I finally win and she stays home. But this time she didn't even try. I don't think she's ever done that before."

"It is weird, for Buffy." Spike agreed. "Maybe she'd hiding something."

Angel rolled his eyes. "You would say that, Spike. I don't think Buffy's hiding anything."

"It's not necessarily something really bad like she's cheating on you, but wouldn't it be just like Buffy to hide having a serious illness or something from you? If she got sick, maybe a side effect of being brought back, she wouldn't want you to fuss and she'd hide it. Have you even considered it?"

"Shut up, Spike." Angel grumbled. Secretly, though, his question did spark worry. What if Buffy was sick? He couldn't lose her again, he couldn't go through that. He'd keep an eye on her. "Now, let's check this thing out."

**The next day**

Buffy, Angel, Xander, and Anya were researching in the Magic Box. "Are we really stuck doing this by ourselves?" Xander asked after a while.

"Yes." Buffy replied. "Willow went out with Amy and Tara and Dawn have been off together all day having fun."

"Everyone else is having fun?" Xander cried. "What, and no one invited us?"

"Willow invited me and Buffy." Angel said, not looking up from his book. "But we said no."

"You guys could have gone." Xander said. "Anya and I've got this."

"Buffy didn't want to go." Angel replied, glancing at Buffy, who avoided eye contact.

"Oh." Xander said, looking surprised.

"Well, you know me; I love a good research session." Buffy said.

"No you don't." Anya said.

"Sure I do."

"No, you don't." Anya insisted. Buffy sighed, looking very annoyed.

"Angel, I'm tired, let's go home."

"What?" Angel said in surprise. "But it's not that late."

"I want to go home. I'm tired and I still don't feel well."

Angel frowned. "Ok." He stood up and got their stuff.

About ten minutes later, they had said goodbye to Xander and Anya and were walking back home, through the back ways. It was quiet. Usually Buffy would talk her mouth off when they were walking together, but today she was silent. That was the last straw for Angel. "Ok what is up with you?"

Buffy stopped and turned to him. "What do you mean?"

"You're hiding something."

"I am not!"

"Yes you are! You've been acting weird all day. There's something you're not telling me."

"It's nothing, Angel."

"It's not nothing. I want to know what you're keeping from me."

Buffy started walking again. "I don't want to do this right now."

"Damn it, Buffy, I'm worried about you, I just want to know what's wrong!" Angel yelled, following her.

"Nothing is wrong!"

"What aren't you telling me?"

"Nothing."

"Buffy," he grabbed her arm, forcing her to stop. "Just tell me. What are you hiding?"

A tear slide down her cheek. "Angel…"

"Buffy, what's going on? Just tell-"

"I'M PREGNANT!" Buffy screamed. "I'm pregnant, and I don't know how or what happened, but somehow you are going to be a father, because we're gonna have a baby."

Angel stepped back in complete shock. "A…a baby." He stammered. "We're g-going to h-have a baby."

Buffy just nodded. Angel reached out and touched her stomach. Her hand joined his. Then Angel pulled her into his arms and kissed her. When they broke apart, he said, "Buffy…this is…" he laughed. "A baby!"

Buffy grinned. "You're right." She kissed him again. He pulled her back into his arms and this time lifted her off the ground.

They didn't go back to the Summers's house. Angel carried all the way back to the mansion, which he still had even though he was never there. They spent the night there, for once not worrying. They didn't think about any of their demon problems, or the complications this baby would bring into their life. They were just happy. They could worry in the morning.

**I told you it was huge. Of course, in the next chapter they have to worry…and there's a lot to worry about…but nonetheless, huge. What do you guys think of our new development in the lives of Buffy and Angel? Please review!**


	10. Wrecked

**Chapter/episode 10: Wrecked. Time to build on what we found out last episode. And that's a lot of building.**

**I am so, so sorry it took so long to put this chapter online. I'll try to get better, I really will. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer.**

Buffy woke up in Angel's arms in their bed in the mansion. It took her a minute to remember why they were there instead of back at home. Then the events of the night before came back to her.

"Buffy?" Angel said.

"Angel."

"Last night…you were serious, weren't you?"

Buffy looked at him. "Of course I'm serious! Why would I make up something like that?"

"You're right." Angel said quickly. "It's just…so hard to comprehend. We're going to have a baby. I'm going to be a father. These are strange sentences to me."

"Yeah." Buffy agreed. "I'm having a hard time believing it myself. I mean, I guess I'm happy, I guess I'm excited…but right now, Angel, I'm just scared out of my mind."

"I'm scared too." Angel admitted. "This isn't exactly a situation I've exactly prepared myself for."

"A child with a Slayer for a mother and a vampire with a soul for a father." Buffy whispered. "Angel, he or she will be a target for every vampire and demon on the planet! And especially living on the Hellmouth…they'll be in danger from the moment they're born."

Angel nodded, also concerned. "Yeah…protection will certainly be an issue. Maybe we can get Willow to do a protection spell around the house."

Buffy was starting to panic. "Angel, I…I'm the Slayer. I can't have a baby! I have to kill vampires and stop apocalypses and beat up Spike and all those other important things Slayers do!"

"Buffy, relax." Angel whispered. "We can do this. I promise."

Buffy nodded. "You're right. Sorry."

"It's ok." Angel replied. After a moment he asked, "Does anybody else know?"

"Willow." Buffy admitted. "Willow knows. I told her the other night when you were investigating with Spike. That was the night I found out."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Buffy took a moment to answer. "I was nervous. It was stupid, but I was nervous you wouldn't believe me. Or worse, you'd think I'd cheated on you."

"I would _never _think that, Buffy. Never."

"I know. I wasn't really thinking straight."

"So the only people who know about the baby are you, me, and Willow?"

"Yeah." Buffy said. "Just us. I don't know if I'm ready to tell anyone else yet."

Angel nodded. "We can keep a secret for a little while. But not as long as we hid our engagement from them." He added.

"No, of course not." Buffy agreed, laughing a little. "We will tell everyone, eventually. Just not right now. Not until we've figured out a few things. We need to have a plan, and right now I have no idea what I'm doing." She was silent for a few moments before adding, "I wish Giles was still here. He'd know what to do."

Angel kissed her softly. "We'll be ok, Buffy. You, me, the baby, everyone. We'll all be ok."

Buffy nodded. "We should go home."

**00000000ooooooooo00000000**

Buffy and Angel walked into the kitchen through the back door and found Dawn and Willow eating breakfast. "Oh my god, where have you two been?" Dawn asked, getting up and hugging first Buffy and then Angel.

"Sorry." Buffy sighed, sitting down. "Slayer emergency. Big vampire battle, you know. We won and we're both fine, though. Don't worry." As she spoke, she caught Willow's eye and could tell that she knew exactly what had actually happened.

"It's fine, I'm glad you're ok." Dawn said. "You scared me, though. Tara and I fell asleep on the couch last night, and when we woke up this morning we realized that nobody had come home."

"Nobody?" Angel asked, frowning. He looked at Willow. "You didn't come home either?"

"Amy and I kind of lost track of time." Willow said, avoiding Angel's eye. "We didn't get back here until this morning."

"What were you guys doing all night long?" Buffy asked.

"Oh, you know, just…stuff." Willow said. "I'm going to take a shower." She said, and left the room.

"I'm going to change." Buffy said, and followed Willow upstairs.

Willow cornered Buffy in her room. "So? Did you tell him?" she asked.

Buffy smiled a little. "Yeah. I did."

"And?"

"He's excited. We both agree it's going to be hard but we can do it. We're both really happy."

"Good!" Willow said enthusiastically. "You both deserve something to be happy about. I'm happy for you."

"Thanks." Buffy said. "We're still keeping it quiet, though, so don't tell anyone."

Willow mimed zipping her lips. "I won't tell a soul. Or Spike."

Buffy laughed. "So, what were you doing all night?"

"Shower." Willow said, and ran into the bathroom. Buffy frowned as she watched her go.

**00000000ooooooooo00000000**

Everyone else had gone to the Magic Box. Angel was alone in the house. He picked up the phone a dialed a number, glancing at the door to make sure no one was coming back. It rang for a moment, and then a familiar voice spoke on the other side. "Paranormal investigations, we help the-"

"Wes, it's me." Angel interrupted.

"Angel? How are you?" Wesley asked.

"Um, I'm fine. Listen, is Doyle there? Could I talk to him?"

"Sure. Doyle!"

A moment later, Doyle said, "Angel? What is it?"

"Once you told me that there were places in the world where you could speak messengers from the Powers that Be. True?" Angel asked.

"Uh, yeah. Yes, there are."

"Are there any that you know of in Sunnydale?"

"There's one."

"Great. Where is it?"

Doyle gave him an address. "The building is abandoned, but you should be able to get inside. Bring some sort of offering for them."

"Thanks Doyle."

Doyle hesitated. "No problem, but…why do you need to know? Is everything ok?"

Angel smiled a bit, even though he knew Doyle couldn't see him. "Everything's fine, Doyle. Thanks for your help." He hung up. He wrote a quick note and left it on the table in case someone came back, making up an excuse (trying to get information from Willy the Snitch), and left the house.

**00000000oooooooo00000000**

Angel didn't think it would be so easy to see oracles of the Powers that Be, but he got in with no trouble at all. He appeared in a white room, and found himself face to face with two figures, and man and a woman. "What business do you have here, lower being?" the man asked.

"I have brought you an offering." Angel said. He offered the woman his watch.

She smiled as she took it. "I like time." She said, pleased. "What is it you want?"

"I want to know how it is possible for Buffy and I to have a child."

The woman smiled. "Ah, yes. We've been expecting you."

"So how is it possible?" Angel repeated, slightly annoyed.

"A gift." The man said.

"A gift?" Angel asked, confused.

"You and the Slayer have both saved the world a number of times. The Slayer sacrificed her life to save the world. The Powers that Be were in your debt. You have both spoken of desiring a family. The Powers have granted that wish to repay you."

Angel contemplated this for a moment. "So this is child is our reward for going through everything we've gone through?"

"You could say that." The woman replied.

Angel nodded, and bowed to the Oracles. "Thank you."

"Leave us now." The man said. Before Angel could reply, he found himself outside the building that contained the portal. He stumbled, surprised by the sudden teleport.

"Friendly." Angel muttered, and started back for home.

**00000000ooooooooo00000000**

When Angel got home, he found Buffy waiting for him, alone. "Is anyone else home yet?" he asked her, sitting down next to her on the couch.

"Dawn and Willow were here, but they left to go have a girls night. I was invited but I didn't feel like going." Buffy replied. "Did you learn anything new from Willy?"

"I didn't actually go to Willy's." Angel admitted. Buffy looked at him in surprise.

"Where were you, then?"

"Well I had so many questions about this pregnancy, this baby that we're going to have. Then I remembered Doyle telling me once that there are ways to contact The Oracles of the Powers that Be. So I called him up, got the location of an entrance, and went to see the Oracles."

"And?" Buffy asked eagerly.

"They told me that this baby was our gift. Our reward for all we've sacrificed for the Powers. We've both talked about having children, both wished it was possible. So the Powers granted us that wish."

Buffy thought about it. "I am happy." She said after a moment. "But this baby is going to cause…complications…in our lives."

"I know it will." Angel replied. He thought about it for a few seconds. "I think I'm looking forward to it." Buffy looked at him, smiled, and kissed him.

They were still kissing when Spike came running in. "Guys." He said. Seeing that they were preoccupied, he pulled them apart roughly. "Listen, we have a problem." He growled.

"Ow! Spike, what is it?" Angel asked, rubbing his arm and looking at Spike in annoyance.

"There's some serious magical mojo happening downtown." Spike said. "And we're not talking pretty lights and flowers raining from the sky, we're talking explosions and big nasty demons."

"Flowers raining from the sky?" Angel asked, raising his eyebrows.

"You know what I mean!"

Angel was about to reply when a thought struck him. He looked at Buffy. "Didn't you say Dawn and Willow were going out tonight?"

Buffy grew wide eyed. "They should have been back by now."

"Willow." They both said at the same time, and followed Spike out the door.

**000000000oooooooooo000000000 **

"They went this way." Angel said. He and Spike were following the scent of Willow and Dawn, and Buffy was following them.

"We're close." Spike added, glancing back at Buffy.

"I don't like it." Buffy said. "They shouldn't have come down here."

Suddenly Angel yelled, "Dawn!" and went running across the street. Buffy and Spike followed his gaze and saw being threatened by a large demon. Willow was inside a crashed car, doing absolutely nothing about it. Angel tackled the demon while Buffy ran over to Dawn and Spike to Willow.

"Are you okay, Dawn?" Buffy asked.

"No. My arm." Dawn groaned.

Buffy looked at her arm closely. "It might be broken, I can't tell. Don't worry, we've got you."

"Willow?" Spike asked. "Willow, snap out of it!"

Angel threw the demon a few yards ahead. "Get Willow out of the car." He told Spike. He obeyed, and Angel got into the car a ran the demon over. "That should take care of him." He sighed.

Willow seemed to be coming back to reality. "What happened to her?" Buffy asked Angel and Spike.

"It's almost like she's high on magic." Spike said, looking carefully at the witch.

"She went to this guy." Dawn said shakily. "She made me wait. I waited forever…and when she came out, she was acting all weird. Then she summoned this demon thing…"

"Oh Willow, what have you been getting into when we aren't looking?" Angel wondered aloud.

Willow opened her eyes. "Dawnie." She gasped. She wrenched herself free from Spike and ran over to Dawn. "Dawnie, I'm so sorry." She said. Dawn glared at her, and then slapped her across the face.

"Angel, can you take Dawn to the hospital about her arm?" Buffy asked. "I'm going to take Willow home."

**000000000oooooooooo000000000 **

Willow was sitting on her bed, wrapped in a blanket, when Buffy walked in. "Angel just called." Buffy said, causing Willow to look up. "Dawn's going to be fine. They'll be home soon."

"I can't believe I let that happen." Willow said quietly. "I have a problem, Buffy. I'm finished. No more magic for me."

"I think that's a good idea." Buffy said.

"Tara was right." Willow sighed. "I have been using too much magic. But it stops now. I promise, it stops now."

**Again, I apologize for how long it took to get this chapter online. Next chapter, Gone. Please review! **


	11. Gone

**Chapter/episode 11: Gone.**

**So…I'm back! I am so, so sorry. I haven't had time to even think about writing in months. I have virtually no spare time anymore. It's practically a foreign concept these days. So writing is **_**seriously**_** on the backburner (this hurts me more than it hurt you, trust me). However, I am now on…wait for it…Winter Break! Two whole weeks of **_**not **_**having to worry about school. For the next two weeks I'm going to get as much writing done as possible, so hopefully you guys will get several chapters to read. Once school starts up again…I honestly don't know. I also don't want to think about that right now. So finally, here is the long-overdue next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer**

Buffy handed Dawn her breakfast. "Hurry up, you're going to be late again." She said.

"Don't tell me what to do." Dawn huffed.

"She's right, Dawnie." Angel said as he walked in. He kissed Buffy and went to the fridge for blood.

"Whatever." Dawn sighed.

"How are you?" Angel asked Buffy. Buffy knew what was behind the question. But he couldn't say it out loud, because Dawn didn't know about the baby yet.

"I'm good." She replied.

Spike suddenly burst in with a blanket over his head. "Damn sun." he yelled. Angel grinned.

"Hello Spike." He said. "What are you doing here?"

"Breakfast. I'm all out." He said. Angel rolled his eyes and handed Spike his cup of blood.

"I'll make another one." He sighed.

"Dawn." Buffy said. "School. Now."

"Fine." Dawn got up and grabbed her bag.

Angel froze. "Someone's coming. I hear footsteps outside." He grabbed Spike's blood and poured it down the sink. It was Spike's turn to roll his eyes, which he did as he left the room.

Sure enough, when Buffy opened the door to usher Dawn outside, there was a woman standing there. Angel watched from the doorway to the dining room. "Hello." Buffy said. "Can I help you?"

"Yes. Are you Buffy Summers-Angel?"

"That's me. Who are you?"

"I'm from Social Services. I'm here for a home visit."

Buffy paled. "That's today?"

The woman smiled. "Yes, it's today." She turned to Dawn. "And you must be Dawn?"

Dawn smiled. "Yes, ma'am."

"School." Buffy said to Dawn. "Now." Dawn rolled her eyes but left.

"She's rather late, isn't she?" the woman asked as she came inside.

"It's just one of those mornings." Buffy said quickly.

The woman nodded but wrote something on her clip board. "My name is Ms. Kroger."

"Nice to meet you." Buffy said. She was almost dying of nerves already. She'd completely forgotten about the visit, what with the excitement of the last couple of days, and she knew nothing was exactly at its best for inspection at the moment.

Angel walked in from the kitchen. "This is my husband Angel." Buffy introduced hurriedly. "Angel, this is Ms. Kroger. She's from Social Services."

"Of course." Angel said. He noted the slightly panicked look in Buffy's eye, something only he would notice. Truthfully, he'd kind of forgotten too. "It's nice to meet you, Ms. Kroger."

"Angel is registered as your last name." Ms. Kroger said, checking her clip board.

"That's correct. My first name is Liam, but I never liked it and everyone's called me Angel for a long as I can remember." Well, it was only partly a lie.

"Come in, sit down." Buffy said, ushering Ms. Kroger into the living room, with Angel following.

Quite unfortunately, Spike was in the living room. "Hello." He said.

"Who is this?" Ms. Kroger asked.

"I'm-" Spike began, but Angel cut him off.

"He's my brother." Angel said quickly.

Ms. Kroger looked from Angel to Spike and then back to Angel. "But…he's British and you're…not."

"Step-brother." Angel said quickly. He turned to Spike and gave him a look that clearly said to play along while saying, "William, this is Ms. Kroger from Social Services. She's here about Dawn."

"Oh." Spike said, understanding. He stood up. "Buffy's a real good mum. She keeps Dawnie away from all sorts of…bad stuff."

Angel could tell Spike had to leave. "Uh, _Will_, don't you have to go do that thing in town?"

Spike gave him a look. "Why yes, _Liam,_ I do. I'll see you later." He grabbed his blanket and left.

Ms. Kroger turned back to Buffy and Angel. "He lives here?"

"No." Buffy said quickly.

"He's visiting from…England. We're just letting him stay here while he's in town." Angel continued.

"No one else lives here but us and Dawn." Buffy said.

"Buffy, I'm going to take a shower!" Willow's voice called down from upstairs. Ms. Kroger gave Buffy a look.

"And…my friend Willow." Buffy admitted. "She just needs a place to stay for a while until she can…move into her new apartment! She got an apartment and it's not ready yet so she's staying here until it's ready. She's great, really, Dawn loves her. She's been a family friend for a very long time, I trust her completely."

Ms. Kroger made another note on her clip board. She had just started talking again about Dawn when Buffy felt a wave a nausea roll over her. _"Oh no, not now." _She thought, but after a few seconds she felt very sick. "Excuse me a moment." She said, and ran upstairs as fast as her feet would carry her.

Angel knew exactly what was wrong, but he knew he needed an excuse for Ms. Kroger. "Um, she probably just left something on."

"The kitchen is upstairs?"

"No, the kitchen's over there, why?"

"Well what did she leave on upstairs?"

"Uh…the shower."

"But I thought that Willow girl was taking a shower?"

"Yes, um…would you like to see some more of the house?"

Buffy burst into the bathroom upstairs and puked her guts out in the toilet. Willow, wearing a bathrobe, was at her side in a moment. "Buffy!"

"I'm ok." Buffy gasped, wiping her mouth. "Morning sickness. No biggy. Got to run!" she stood up and tried to leave but Willow grabbed her arm.

"Buffy, are you sure you're ok?"

"Fine and dandy and very busy, I really have to get back downstairs!" she pulled away and ran downstairs.

"There's really nothing of interest in the cabinet over there, really." Angel was saying when Buffy walked in. Ms. Kroger seemed to be looking at the weapons cabinet. "Just a bunch of…cleaning supplies! We're very…we're obsessively clean! We love cleaning stuff!"

Buffy really wanted to bang her head against the wall at this point but figured that wouldn't look very good. "I'm back." She said.

"I was just telling Ms. Kroger about the cleaning supplies." Angel said.

"Yes, sweetie, I heard." When Ms. Kroger wasn't looking, she elbowed him. "Cleaning supplies?" she hissed so only he would hear.

Ms. Kroger turned to them. "I don't know what kind of game you think you're playing, Mrs. Summers-Angel, but I do know this is not a suitable household for a teenage girl. I am recommending Dawn be taken out of your care immediately."

"No!" Buffy cried. "Please, Ms. Kroger, give us another chance."

"My decision is final. You'll be hearing from me soon." She walked out the door.

Buffy screamed and threw a book that was lying on the table at the wall. "Buffy," Angel tried to calm her down but it didn't work. She ran upstairs and into her room, slamming the door shut behind her. Angel went after her and ran into Willow (who was dressed now).

"What happened?" Willow asked, alarmed.

"Our Social Services visit didn't go too well." Angel said.

"Is _that _what was going on downstairs?"

"Yeah. We might lose Dawn." Angel stopped at Buffy's door and tried to turn the handle. "She locked it. Buffy?"

"Just leave me alone." Buffy replied from inside.

"We can deal with this, Buffy, I promise." Angel said.

"Don't make promises you know you can't keep, Angel."

"Buffy, let me in." Angel called impatiently. "I'm not above breaking down this door, you know! Then we'd have to repair it using the money you hate me using so much!"

After another minute, the door opened. "Oh my god." Angel said. "Buffy, what did you do?"

Buffy seemed to have attacked her hair with a pair of scissors. She was still crying. "I guess I kind of lost it." She said. Angel hugged her.

"We can get through this." He told her.

"I don't want to lose her, Angel." Buffy whispered. "I really don't. Plus, being told you're not fit to raise a child is the last thing you want to hear when you've just found out you're going to have a baby."

"Buffy, you are going to be the best mother in the world. Our child is going to be lucky to have you as a mother."

Buffy tried to smile but didn't exactly pull it off. She walked back into her room and looked in the mirror. "Oh, I'm a mess. Look what I did to my hair." She looked at Angel again. "If it's ok with you, I'm going to go into town and see if I can get a professional to fix this."

"Sure, go ahead. I'm going to the Magic Box to work with Xander and Anya on some stuff. Why don't you meet me there when you're done?"

Buffy nodded. "Sounds good."

**00000000ooooooooo00000000**

"You know, I was under the impression we were researching diamond-using demons, not going over seating arrangements." Angel said, looking up from the book he was reading long enough to speak with Xander and Anya, who were looking at their chart for seating arrangements at their wedding reception.

"Come on, Angel, you planned a wedding once." Xander said. "You know how much work it is."

Anya, who clearly hadn't been listening to Angel and Xander's conversation, said, "Maybe we could put Buffy and Angel over here with your family and then-"

"No." Xander interrupted. "We're not putting Buffy with my family."

"Why not?" Anya asked.

"Because we like Buffy." Xander replied. Angel cleared his throat loudly. "And him too I suppose." Xander added unenthusiastically.

"Gee, thanks Xander." Angel said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Fine, what if we put them with D'Hoffryn?" Anya suggested.

"I'd honestly rather you didn't." Angel said.

"We're not inviting D'Hoffryn." Xander said.

They were all so busy arguing that they didn't hear the door open. A moment later, however, Angel looked around. Xander noticed. "What wrong, Deadboy?"

"I don't know…" Angel said slowly. "I thought I just heard…never mind."

"Oh, don't worry honey, that was me."

Angel, Xander, and Anya all jumped, startled. "Buffy?" Angel called. He felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm over here. I seem to be invisible. Pretty cool, huh?"

"Wait, I know this!" Xander cried. "Have you been feeling ignored?"

"No, this isn't a Marcie thing. I was just in town after getting my hair cut, and-"

"You got your hair cut?" Anya interrupted. "How does it look? Because I've been thinking about getting mine cut before the wedding."

"Oh, about to here…oh, you can't see me, uh…" she grabbed a small statue off the shelf and held to what Angel was pretty sure was her shoulder. "About to here."

"Oh, that sounds really cute." Anya said.

"Um, ladies," Xander began.

"Priorities!" Angel finished for him. "What happened, Buffy?"

"Nothing. It was like suddenly…poof! I was invisible." Buffy replied.

"Could it be some sort of spell?" Xander asked, looking at Angel.

"Possibly." Angel said distractedly. He needed a minute before he could think about that. First he was panicking a little inside. On a normal day, he would have worried a little, but mostly trusted that Buffy could handle it, with a little help from him and the Scoobies. But although he still had that faith in her, there was one new element that was completely beyond Buffy's control: what if this hurt the baby?

"Angel?"

Angel snapped back to reality to find both Xander and Anya looking at him with a mixture of confusion and concern. "Sorry, what?" he asked hurridly.

"You ok? You zoned out there a little." Xander told him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking."

"Now is not the time to be brooding, Angel, your wife is invisible." Xander said.

"I-I wasn't brooding!" Angel cried indignantly. "I was thinking. And I don't brood that much anymore."

"It's true, he's gotten a lot better." Buffy's voice cut in.

"I'll believe that when I see it." Xander replied. "And, for that matter, when I see you. What are we going to do about this invisible situation?"

"Why don't you guys research invisibility spells?" Buffy suggested.

"That's a good idea." Angel said. "What are you going to do?"

"Are you kidding? I'm invisible! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity! I'm going to go have some fun."

The other three glanced at each other. "Are you sure?" Anya asked. "I mean, what if this is serious?"

"You guys will figure it out. I have complete faith in you. I just want to enjoy myself a little for once. I'll be back in a little while."Angel heard her footsteps start heading toward the door.

"Buffy!" he said. "You two get started." He told Xander and Anya, and ran after Buffy just as she opened the door. He reached out, found her arm, and held on to it as he shut the door. "We have to talk about this for a minute."

"Why?"

"The baby."

She was quiet for a minute, before responding, "Angel, don't worry. I'm fine, and the baby is fine. This isn't a big deal, we'll be ok."

"You don't know that."

"Sweetie, I need a break. Just a couple of hours of being invisible. If I start to feel weird I'll come straight back, I promise." He felt her kiss his cheek. "I'll see you tonight, and hopefully by then you'll be able to see me." He heard her footsteps again.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"The Social Services office." Buffy replied cheerfully.

It took Angel a moment to realize what exactly that meant. "Oh dear god." He said. "Buffy!" he shouted, but she was gone. "Damn it!" he kicked a rock and went back inside. "Ok, let's get started. The sooner we find out what happened, the better."

Xander looked at him as he sat down. "She'll be fine." He said.

Angel sighed. "Thanks. Found anything?"

"Well, there are a couple of spells that could make someone invisible." Anya said. "But what I don't understand is why anyone would do this. I mean, isn't an invisible Slayer twice as hard to defeat as a normal one?"

"Anya has a point." Angel agreed. "Why would anyone do this? Let me see those spells." Anya handed him a spell book.

About ten minutes later, Xander put down his book. "I give up. I mean you said it yourself, it doesn't make any sense. Why would someone just turn her invisible?"

"Maybe it was a mistake." Anya suggested.

"That's possible." Angel said. "Magic goes wrong all the time. I mean, Willow…" he trailed off, and they all looked at each other, thinking exactly the same thing. "No." Angel said. "No, no, Willow wouldn't…no."

"I don't know, she's done similar things by mistake before." Anya pointed out.

"And let's face it, we've all partly been waiting for her to relapse." Xander said slowly. "I mean, I love Willow, but…she has a problem."

"Let's just wait a moment, maybe we're all jumping to conclusions here." Angel said. "Willow's been doing really well. It's been hard but she's been coping."

"I think we need to ask her." Xander said. "I don't want to believe it was her but we have to accept the facts."

Angel sighed and nodded. "You're right. You and I should go talk to her. Anya, you stay here and keep looking."

Anya nodded, but Xander said, "Are you sure I shouldn't just go alone? I'm closer to her than you are, it might be better if only I talk to her about it."

"This is _my _family we're talking about." Angel replied. "If Willow did something I deserve to know."

"Fair enough." Xander sighed as he stood up. "But Buffy's been through way worse, Angel, I'm sure she'll be fine. You don't need to worry about her." Angel nodded but didn't say anything more as the two of them walked out the door.

**000000000oooooooooo00000000**

Willow was sitting at her computer in the dining room with a bunch of books spread out across the table when Xander and Angel walked in. "Hey Will." Xander said.

"Hi." She said. "I've been researching the diamond that was stolen from the museum. Turns out it has a history of being connected with magical events."

"We have a bigger problem to worry about right now." Angel said as he and Xander sat down.

"What's up?" Willow asked, looking concerned.

"I think you know." Xander said quietly.

"No, I don't." Willow said slowly.

"Will, I know what you did." Xander told her. Willow paled.

"It-it was an accident." She stammered. "I didn't mean to."

"We know you didn't. It's understandable. Relapse is part of getting better. But we need you to tell us what you did to Buffy so we can-"

"Buffy?" Willow interrupted, looking confused. "What happened to Buffy? What are you talking about?"

"What are you talking about?" Angel replied, looking confused.

"What happened to Buffy?" Willow asked again.

"Buffy's invisible." Xander told her.

"Buffy's invisible!" Willow cried.

"Yeah." Angel said. "She was in town getting her hair cut and-"

"Buffy got a haircut!" Willow interrupted.

Xander sighed, irritated. "Yeah, and apparently it's adorable, except none of us can see it because she is _invisible_!"

Willow gasped suddenly. "And you two thought I did it! Do you really have that little faith in me?"

"Well what were we supposed to think, Willow?" Xander said. "Your track record isn't exactly clean in the area of magical accidents."

"But I'm doing so much better." Willow insisted. "Angel, you know I'm doing better. I can't believe you both thought this was my fault." She got up and stormed out the front door.

"Willow," Angel ran after her, leaving a very surprised Xander sitting alone in the dining room. "Willow, wait." He grabbed her arm as he caught up to her in the yard.

"Leave me alone, Angel." She snapped at him.

"Willow, listen to me. Ok, it wasn't you. If you say you didn't do it I believe you. But I've got to know. What are the chances that an invisibility spell could hurt the baby?"

Willow hesitated. "I don't know, Angel. I think they both should be alright, but I can't know for sure unless I know exactly what spell was used."

Angel sighed. "Ok. Thank you." He let go of her arm. She walked down the block and out of sight. He went back to the house and sat down on the porch steps. A minute later Xander came out of the house and sat down next to him.

"I just called Anya." He said. "She hasn't found anything new." Angel was silent. Xander looked at him. "Are you sure you're ok? You've been acting really strange about this. I know you've always been worried about Buffy, but suddenly it's like you're afraid if you turn your back she'll vanish."

Angel smiled. "If somebody had told you five years ago that you'd be asking me if I was ok, would you have believed them?"

"No, I would have hit them." Xander admitted, and Angel laughed. "And you are avoiding the question."

Angel sighed. "It's been a long, hard year so far. I guess you could say I am a little paranoid."

"It's understandable. But she'll be fine."

"I know." Angel said quietly. "So what should we do next?"

Xander frowned, thinking. "Maybe we should check out where it happened, see if we can spot any clues. The problem is…where do we look?"

"I know where she gets her hair cut." Angel said, standing up. "It must of happened somewhere near there."

"Sounds good to me."

**000000000oooooooooo000000000 **

"Willow?" Angel called as he got out of his car with Xander. "What are you doing here?"

"I stopped by the magic shop and Anya gave me the details." Willow explained. "I thought I'd come over here and check it out. Look at this." She led them over to an alleyway and pointed to the tire marks on the ground. "Someone left here in a hurry."

"Yeah, but those could have been made anytime." Xander pointed out as they walked back over to the sidewalk.

Willow shook her head. "I thought so too at first, but then I found some black paint on the fire hydrant."

"What fire hydrant?" Xander asked. Suddenly he hit his leg on something. "Ow!" he gasped, grabbing his leg.

"That fire hydrant." Willow replied, wincing. "Sorry." She crouched down and motioned for Angel to do the same. "See these scratches of black paint? They aren't invisible, but the hydrant is."

"So the car must have left here after Buffy became invisible." Angel finished, understanding.

"Exactly." Willow nodded. She held up a can of orange spray paint and sprayed the hydrant. "I've been spray painting all the invisible things I've found so we know where they are." She explained, pointing to a dumpster that was bright orange and only partly there.

Angel nodded. "Good idea. So what now?"

"I'm going to cross check the tire tracks with the city records." Willow replied. "See if I can find Buffy's mystery van."

Xander was about to say something when he stumbled over something in the street. "There!" he cried, pointing. Willow sprayed the area.

"It's a pylon." She said. "You know, one of those traffic cones. Here," She picked it up and handed it to Xander. "Take it back to the magic box. Maybe you can use it to help you find out how to help Buffy and the-" she broke off as she realized what she was saying, and Angel gave her an alarmed look. "-uh, the fire hydrant!"

Xander stared at her. "Right." He said finally. "We'll do that. Come on, Angel." He started heading back toward the car.

Angel turned back to Willow and gave her a look. "I know, I'm sorry." Willow groaned, and ran back over to the dumpster as Angel followed Xander.

**000000000oooooooooo000000000 **

Spike was sitting in his crypt, watching TV, when the door suddenly opened and then slammed shut again. Spike jumped to his feet and looked around. "Hello?" he called. "I'll warn you I'm not kind to demons." Suddenly a lamp floated into the air. Spike rolled his eyes. "Oh, a ghost, is it? Go off and be dead like a good little spook." The lamp flew across the room and smashed into the wall. "Hey, watch it! That was a good lamp!"

More of Spike's possessions started flying off around, many of them breaking on the ground. "Are you throwing things at the wall?" Spike cried. "Stop it!" he caught a glass as it was thrown at him. "Be off with you!" he felt something ram into him, and he went flying across the room and hit the ground hard. "This isn't funny!" he shouted. "I'm warning you! I have vicious friends!"

He heard laughter, and his new supply of pig's blood floated into the air. Spike watched in surprise as a little bit was pulled out of the jar, as though someone had dipped their fingers in it. He watched as the words _Hello William _were written across his wall. "Who are you?" he yelled. Suddenly the rest of the blood was splashed across the opposite wall. "You've broken things, you've splashed blood across the walls. You've come to destroy my crypt?" Spike asked. Suddenly he was lifted into the air and thrown across the room.

"Stop it!" Spike shouted, wincing. "How am I supposed to fight back if I can't see you?" He was grabbed by the front of his shirt, spun around, and tossed into his chair. "What are you doing?" he asked. Suddenly he felt something that felt like a hand mess up his hair before he heard more laughter, and the crypt door opened and closed again. Then there was silence. "Hello?" Spike called, but there was no answer.

"It's gone." He sighed. Then he looked around. "Bloody hell." He groaned, and closed his eyes.

**000000000oooooooooo000000000 **

Angel, Xander, and Anya were studying the traffic cone in the Magic Box. "We've tried everything." Anya sighed. "I'm out of ideas."

"There must be something we haven't thought of." Angel said, frustrated. "There's got to be a way to undo this."

"I agree, but what?" Xander asked. "I mean, Anya's right, we've tried everything."

Anya reached out to grab the cone. But when she touched it, it crumbled under her hand. "Ew." Anya said. "Look, it turned to pudding."

"What?" Xander reached out and touched it, and the same thing happened. Angel did the same.

"See? Like pudding." Anya said.

"Oh no." Angel whispered. He leaned back in his chair and covered his face with his hands. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no."

"What?" Anya asked, looking confused.

"An, think about it." Xander said. "This cone was hit by the same thing Buffy was. So if we don't find Buffy and reverse this soon…"

Horror appeared in Anya's eyes as she understood. "She's pudding?" she guessed.

Angel stood up. "We have to find her. Now."

"I know." Xander said, following suite. "I'll go with you. Anya, you stay here in case she comes back." He turned back to Angel. "Before we leave, we should call your house first. In case she's there." Angel nodded, tapping his fingers on the table anxiously.

Xander dialed the number and waited. A moment later he sighed. "I got the machine." He said.

"I'll be waiting in the car." Angel said, and walked out the door.

**000000000oooooooooo000000000 **

Angel and Xander walked into Spike's crypt. "Spike…whoa, what happened?"

Spike was slowly picking up all the broken objects from the floor. He still looked like a mess from being thrown around, and the pig's blood was still on the walls. "I had a visit from Casper the unfriendly ghost." He grumbled.

Angel and Xander glanced at each other. "Buffy." They said at the same time.

"No, no." Spike sighed. "It couldn't have been the Slayer, I tend to notice her."

"Not right now, you wouldn't." Xander said. "She's invisible. We're looking for her."

"Buffy's invisible?" Spike asked, frowning. Then it dawned on him. "_Buffy_ did this? Oh, I am going to kill that woman."

"You might not have a chance, she's in trouble." Xander said. "Whatever did this to her, it's going to kill her. She's fading away and she doesn't know it. That's why we're looking for her."

"Do you have any idea where she was going after she was here?" Angel asked desperately.

"No." Spike said. "She didn't say anything. Do you want help looking for her?"

Angel shook his head. "No, you stay here. There's a chance she may come back to mess with your head again, she likes doing that. Stay here, and if she comes back tell her what's going on and that we're looking for her." And with that, he left, Xander right behind him.

"Where now?" Xander asked.

"We should split up." Angel said. "I'm going to check the house again, you check in at the magic shop. Then just look wherever you think you might find her." He ran off in the other direction.

**0000000000oooooooooo00000000 0**

Angel ran into the house just in time to crash into Dawn. "Sorry." He gasped. "Dawnie, have you-"

"Just leave me alone." Dawn snapped, and she ran upstairs.

Angel groaned but knew he didn't have time to go after her. He started shifting through the books Willow had left lying in the table. Suddenly something grabbed him from behind. He cried out in alarm and threw a book at the wall behind him. "Relax!" Buffy's voice yelled. "Sheesh, that was almost too easy."

It took Angel a second to register that it was her. "Oh, thank god you're alive!" he yelled, and threw his arms around her (which was quite impressive, seeing as she was still invisible).

"Wow, you really missed me, huh?" Buffy asked.

He kissed her. "I was worried you were already dead."

"Why, what's going on?"

"We were doing some research on what happened to you, and…Buffy, you're fading away. If we don't reverse this you'll turn into…pudding."

"Oh." Was all Buffy could say. "Do…do you think the ba-"

"I don't know, sweetie, I don't know." Angel whispered, pulling her closer. "We need to get you back to the magic shop now. My car's outside." The phone rang. "That's probably Xander, you should get it." Angel told Buffy. Buffy went into the kitchen and answered the phone.

"Xander?" there was a pause. "Who is this?" Angel frowned and joined her in the kitchen. "Who are you? What…wait!" after a moment, she put the phone down. "I don't know who that was." She began slowly. "But they said they can reverse this…and that they're holding Willow hostage and we need to meet them in the arcade."

"Do you believe them?" Angel asked.

"Yeah, I do. We need to go."

Angel groaned. "I'm going to regret this." He mumbled. "Come on, let's go."

**000000000oooooooooo00000000**

Buffy and Angel walked into the arcade. "There's Willow." Angel said quietly, pointing to the corner where Willow was standing by herself, looking worried.

"I see her." Buffy replied. "Come on."

"Angel!" Willow gasped when she saw him. "Is Buffy with you?"

"I'm over here." Buffy said. "So where are these guys?"

"They're invisible too. I think there are about three of them."

"That's right, Slayer." A man's voice said. A large gun-like device was floating in the air behind Buffy.

"What's that?" Angel asked Willow.

"It's an invisibility ray. That's what made Buffy invisible. It wasn't a spell after all." Willow replied. "And…no, Buffy! He's lying!" the invisible man had just been about to shoot Buffy again. "The ray's on the wrong setting, I saw the plans! It's going to make you fade faster!"

"Shut up!" the man yelled.

"Wait," a different man's voice began.

"You were going to kill her?" a third man's voice cut in. "You promised we weren't going to kill anyone!"

"I know that voice." Buffy said suddenly. "Who are you guys?"

The third man answered in a very poorly disguised voice: "No one you know."

Suddenly the ray fell the ground as the first man cried out in pain. As far as Angel and Willow could tell, Buffy had tackled him. A fight had broken out. Angel quickly started to untie the ropes around Willow's wrists. "Thanks." She said. "Don't you want to help Buffy?"

"I do, but…" he turned and looked around the room. "I don't know where any of them are." Willow, thinking fast, picked up the invisibility ray. Angel hesitated. "Do you know how to work that thing?" he asked.

"I think so." Willow replied, fiddling with the knobs. There was a noise to their left, and Willow fired the ray in that direction. Buffy appeared next to Angel.

"Thanks." She said, surprised. "Um, two of them are over there, I think." She pointed, and Willow fired. Two people appeared. "Warren?" Buffy gasped. "  
Jonathon?"

Suddenly Angel reached out and grabbed something. "Caught the third one." He said with a grin. Willow shot him with the ray. All three of them stared at him.

"And who are you?" Buffy asked.

"I'm Andrew." He said meekly. Angel let go of him.

"So you three have…what? Banded together to be pains in my ass?" Buffy asked.

Warren looked at her somewhat defiantly. "We're you arch-nemisises…ees." Angel raised his eyebrows. "And you may have beaten us this time, Slayer, but next time, uh…"

"Maybe not!" Jonathon finished for him, and something exploded into smoke. Buffy and Willow both started coughing, and Angel squinted through the smoke.

"Uh, guys?" he said with a grin.

"I thought you said it was unlocked!" Warren hissed. They were desperately trying to get through the locked door.

Buffy giggled. "I give you my arch nemisises…ees." She finished with a frown.

Angel watched as the three boys ran away in the other direction. "I think I might have just learned what it truly means to be terrified." He deadpanned, causing the girls to laugh. He looked at Buffy. "You look amazing." He said. He ran his fingers through her hair. "I like it."

Buffy sighed and gave him a kiss. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Acting like I did today. There was no call for it."

Willow smiled. "I hate to break up this cute moment, but shouldn't we tell everyone that Buffy's ok? Xander and Anya are waiting."

Buffy nodded. "Yeah, let's get out of here."

"Agreed." Angel sighed. He put his arm around Buffy as they walked out of the arcade and onto the street. "By the way," he said, "I love what you did to Spike's place."

**Wow. That was way longer than I thought it would be. Next chapter should be up as soon as possible, and I mean it this time. Please review!**


	12. Doublemeat Palace

**Chapter/episode 12: Doublemeat Palace.**

**Um…yeah. I'm not even going to bother with the long apologies and promises we all know I can't keep. I'm sorry, ok? End of story. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer.**

Angel knocked on the door to the bedroom he shared with Buffy. "Buffy, honey? Can I come in?"

"If you must." Buffy's voice replied from inside. Frowning, Angel opened the door and went inside, shutting it behind him. "Don't laugh." Buffy said.

"Why would I-"Angel turned around and stopped mid-sentence. "Oh. That's why."

Buffy groaned, looking again at her reflection in the mirror. "I look ridiculous!" she cried, adjusting the chicken hat while brooding over the color of her new uniform, which was a bright orange.

"No, no, you look fine." Angel told her.

"No, I don't. You're only saying that because it's me. If you saw someone else wearing this, you'd be laughing your head off." Buffy retorted. She groaned again and played with the waistline of her pants. "And it's a little too tight."

"I thought you said you double checked the size and it was the same as all your other clothes." Angel said, frowning.

"I did." Buffy replied. "They're starting to get tight too."

Angel understood. "Oh." He smiled. "Oh." He said again.

She smiled back. "Oh." She agreed. "We have to tell the others soon, Angel. Another few weeks and I won't even be able to fit into my clothes."

"We will." Angel said. "In the meantime, are you ready?"

Buffy looked at her reflection again. "Is everyone waiting downstairs to see me like this?"

"Yes." Angel replied honestly.

Buffy sighed and sat on the bed. Angel joined her. "I don't want to go." She told him.

"You don't have to do this, Buffy." Angel replied.

"Yes, I do. For image. One of us needs to be making income. We're Dawn's legal guardians and we're going to have a baby of our own before too long. Just until the baby's born, I promise."

Angel nodded, though he still didn't look too happy about it. "What am I supposed to do while you're gone?"

"Help the others try to find the Nerd Squad."

Angel sighed. "Warren, Jonathan, and Andrew. Somehow, I have a hard time feeling threatened."

"They may not be all that dangerous but we still can't risk having them running around town trying to do crime. We should still go looking for them."

"I know, I know." Angel said. He checked his watch. "You're going to be late."

"Ok. Let's get this over with." Buffy groaned. They stood up and looked at each other.

"You'll be awesome." Angel promised. He kissed her.

Buffy raised her eyebrows. "Not every day I hear you use that word."

**000000000oooooooooo00000000**

"This was a good idea, Dawn." Angel said as he, Dawn, Willow, Xander, and Anya headed into the Doublemeat Palace restaurant that Buffy was working in.

"I just think we should support Buffy on her first day of work." Dawn said.

"And you wanted food." Xander said, grinning.

"What, and you didn't?" Willow laughed.

Just by luck, Buffy was working the counter when they got there. "Hey Buffy." Dawn said cheerfully.

"Hey guys. What are you doing here?" Buffy asked, looking surprised.

"We're here to support you." Anya said.

"Thanks, you guys are sweet." Buffy said. "Hi honey." She added to Angel.

"How's your first day?" Angel asked.

Buffy shrugged unenthusiastically. "Ok, I guess. This place is creepy. Everyone's just kind of like zombies, and there's this manager-"

"That guy over there getting the pickles wet?" Xander asked. They all turned to look.

"Yeah, that's him. He's really weird."

"He looks it." Angel said.

"You're looking too much into it, Buff." Xander said dismissively. "I've done the whole fast food deal. You've always got weirdos like that in this business. Now, how about a burger?"

Buffy smiled. "Sure. Here, this one's on me." She handed him a burger.

"Oh, thanks Buffy." Xander said, and he took a large bite.

"And I cut way down on the cat." Buffy added.

Xander froze, looking mortified. "Cat?" he asked through a mouthful of food. Angel couldn't help it; he started laughing.

"Just kidding." Buffy assured Xander. "I think." She added after a moment.

**000000000oooooooooo000000000**

When Buffy got home that night, the house was quiet. "Hello?" she called. "Anyone home?"

Angel came hurrying down the stairs. "Hey." He said. He gave her a kiss. "How was work?"

Buffy made a noise in her throat. "Long and awful. I don't want to talk about that. Where's everyone else?"

"At the Magic Box." Angel replied. "Everyone's there, even Spike. I said we'd meet them there when you got home. If you're not too tired." He added quickly.

"No, that sounds great." Buffy said brightly. "Just give me a few minutes to change." She started upstairs. Angel grabbed her arm as he past her, however. She looked at him.

"And I was thinking about what you said this morning." He said. "And I thought since everyone is going to be there it would be a good time to…you know…tell them."

Buffy paused a moment, thinking about it. She nodded slowly. "Yeah." She said. "Yeah, I think that's a good idea. I think I'm ready. If you are."

"I'm ready." Angel replied. "I spent I long time thinking about it, and I think it's time."

Buffy nodded and smiled. She gave him a kiss. "Just let me get changed." She said, and hurried up the stairs.

"Of course." He said as he watched her go. He smiled to himself. "We're going to have a baby." He said aloud, because he never tired of saying it.

**000000000oooooooooo000000000**

When Buffy and Angel walked into the Magic Box, Xander, Anya, Dawn, Willow, and Spike were sitting around the table, just talking. Xander looked up when they came in. "Buffy, Deadboy, come on in, there's plenty of room. We're talking about wedding reception menus."

Buffy grinned. "Lucky us." She said. She glanced at Angel, who nodded. She took a deep breath. "Actually, we have something to tell you."

They had everyone's full attention now. Willow smiled knowingly and gave them an encouraging nod. "What's up, Buffy?" Dawn asked.

"How was work?" Anya asked.

"Fine, but that's not what we want to talk about." Buffy said. "Something…" she trailed off and looked at Angel.

"Something's happened." Angel supplied. "Something we can't really explain."

"Something bad?" Spike asked.

"No, not something bad." Buffy said quickly. She smiled. "Something good. Guys…" she took another deep breath and squeezed Angel's hand, "I'm pregnant."

The reactions were instantaneous. Dawn squealed and started jumping up and down in her seat. Willow smiled and winked at Angel, who smiled back. Anya said something about having to order Buffy a different size of bridesmaid dress. Xander gaped at them, his mouth wide open. Spike shouted, "You're joking!"

"No Spike, we're not joking." Angel said.

"But I thought that was impossible." Xander said. "You said vampires couldn't have children."

"They can't." Spike said before Angel or Buffy could reply. "It shouldn't be possible. What happened?"

"We couldn't explain it either." Buffy admitted. "So Angel went to see the Oracles of the Powers that Be, who told him that the baby was a gift."

"So you're going to have a human baby?" Anya asked. Buffy and Angel both opened their mouths to reply, and then looked at each other. They hadn't even thought about that. Was the baby going to be human?

"Oh who cares?" Dawn said. She got up and threw her arms around both of them. "Why didn't you tell me? Oh, this is so exciting!"

Xander looked at Willow, who was grinning and looked very pleased about something. "What are you so smug about?" he asked.

"I knew." Willow said happily.

"They told you and not the rest of us?" Xander cried, sounding very indignant.

"It's a privilege of best friends."

Spike got up and stood next to Angel. "I'm going to be an uncle." He said.

"Not you're not." Buffy and Angel said together.

"Yes I am." Spike replied with a grin.

"No." Angel said again.

"Oh I am, whether you like it or not." Spike retorted. "Just you wait and see. Congratulations, you two. I've got to run." He turned to leave.

"See you Spike." Angel called after him.

"Don't you mean Uncle Spike?"

"Shut up."

**000000000oooooooooo000000000**

**The Next Day**

Angel walked into the Magic Box. Xander and Anya were at the counter, and a few customers were scattered throughout the store. "Hi Angel." Anya said when he walked in. "I'd love to chat, but I've got too much to do. Oh, no, don't touch that!" she shouted suddenly, running over to a customer. Angel gave Xander a quizzical look as he joined him at the counter.

"Anya's discovering that running the shop alone and trying to plan a wedding is a lot more work than she thought." Xander explained.

"Ah." Angel said. "Well, sorry to interrupt, but my job today was to check in on the search for Warren, Jonathon, and Andrew. Any luck?"

"Oh, yeah." Xander said. "What's less than nothing whatsoever?"

"I believe that's called negative five." Angel said seriously.

"Right. That's where we are. Negative five."

Angel sighed. "We'll figure something out." He looked around the shop. "Oh, that's not food!" he called to a customer. "Those are candles."

"Idiot." Xander said, watching the guy.

"Oh, no, anyone could make that mistake." Angel replied, smirking.

"You're in a weirdly good mood this morning." Xander observed.

"Yes, Dawn said the same thing this morning. I guess you could say I've just got something to be happy about."

"Right." Xander said. "I didn't get a chance to tell you last night, congratulations."

"Thanks." Angel replied.

"And if anything happens to Buffy as a result of this pregnancy, I will set you on fire."

"Well, that goes without saying."

Anya came back over, her arms full of books. "Ok." She said, setting them down on the counter. "I have to gift wrap all of these separately."

"I'll do it." Angel offered, moving around to the other side of the counter.

Anya looked relieved. "Would you? Oh, thanks Angel, I have to go clean up the spilled sleeping draught." She ran off again.

Angel was about halfway through wrapping the books when a woman carrying several enchanted vases approached the counter. "Excuse me," she began, but then one the vases slipped out of her hand. Anya, who was just returning to the counter, practically screamed; Angel, however, caught the vase with reflexes only a vampire could have.

"Let me take those for you." He offered.

"Oh, thank you." The woman said, looking relieved. "Good catch."

Angel smiled. "Lots of practice." He said. "Here, I think this is twenty-five dollars all together…"

While he was helping the woman, Xander got up and whispered something to Anya, who groaned before nodding. After the woman left and Angel had finished wrapping the books, Anya approached the counter. "Angel…" she trailed off, looking as though it was physically painful to get the words out. Angel looked at her expectantly. "Would you like a job?"

Angel was taken aback. "A job?"

Anya nodded. "It's a two person job, Angel, running this place. And I know you have quite a bit of money saved up but a little extra never hurt. Plus it makes a good impression on social services and stuff, I know that's the main reason Buffy got a job. Please?" she added meekly.

Angel thought about it. "I don't have to wear a bright orange uniform, do I?"

Anya shook her head. "Nope."

"I'm in."

Anya clapped her hands, looking delighted. "Yay! Ok, it's about time to close for lunch, so you can come with us to our apartment, because the forms are there. I'll let a few of them slide since I know that technically you don't exist and all that, but you need to fill out the one to get paid. You just fill out your address and stuff."

"But you know where I live." Angel pointed out.

"Don't bother arguing with her about this." Xander advised. "You won't win."

**000000000oooooooooo000000000**

**Xander and Anya's Apartment**

Angel finished filling out the form. "Done!" he called. He looked up. "Anya? Where'd she go?"

Xander, who was on the other side of the room, sitting on the couch, replied, "She went in the other room for something. She'll be back in a minute."

Angel nodded. Suddenly there was a bang and a flash of light. Both Xander and Angel jumped, Angel accidently knocking his application forms to the floor. A woman with the face of a demon was standing in the middle of Xander's living room. She was looking at Xander and didn't appear to notice Angel. "I have been summoned here to wield my power of vengeance!" the woman said dramatically. "You!" she pointed at Xander, who recoiled in terror. "Bow before me, filth, as I make your life a living hell!"

Angel quietly picked up a chair and was about to hit the woman in the head with it when Anya walked in from the other room. "Anya!" Xander cried, scrambling to his feet and hiding behind his fiancé. "Make her go away!" Angel rolled his eyes.

"Oh my-" Anya broke off in the middle of her surprised remark as the saw the woman. "Halfrek?"

"Anyanka?" the woman asked in surprise. Both women suddenly shrieked happily and hugged. Angel dropped his chair in surprise.

"Wait, do you know her?" Xander cried. "She was going to kill me!"

"I was going to handle it." Angel said defensively.

"Well you weren't handling it fast enough, Deadboy!" Xander hissed.

Anya turned back to the woman, Halfrek. "Hallie, I didn't summon you here to kill Xander, I wanted to invite you to our wedding!"

"Oh!" Halfrek started laughing. "I am so embarrassed!"

Xander ran around the girls to stand next to Angel, as far away from the vengeance demon as possible. He was still looking at Halfrek with absolute terror. "I should get back to the Magic Box." Angel said. "You want to come?"

"Please." Xander said, and they both left the apartment as fast as they could.

**000000000oooooooooo000000000**

**Later that day, the Magic Box**

Buffy stormed into the shop, looking furious. Angel was sitting at the table with Dawn and Xander. He grinned when he saw Buffy and jumped up. "Hi Honey." He said. "Guess what happened to me today?"

Without answering, Buffy dropped a burger into the table. "There's something going on at that restaurant."

Dawn looked interested. "Really? Like what?"

"So nobody wants to hear what I did today?" Angel asked, looking slightly hurt.

"The employees are disappearing." Buffy said. "I think Manny the manager might be killing them."

"Your boss's name is Manny the manager?" Dawn asked, raising her eyebrows.

"I got a job!" Angel said loudly. Buffy looked at him in surprise.

"Really?" she asked. "Who gave you a job?"

"Anya." Angel said, looking very pleased with himself. "She said she needed some help running the shop, so she gave me a job. She's going to pay me and everything."

"Good for you, Angel." Buffy said. She gave him a long kiss. Angel gave her a small smile when she pulled away.

"Ok, we can focus on your problem now." He said. Buffy smiled and gave him another kiss on the cheek before continuing.

"The only guy there who didn't seem to be a zombie never came to work this morning." She said. "And then I found a finger in the meat grinder."

"Oh my god." Dawn said, looking sick.

"I think the burger meat might be human." Buffy finished. "And think about it. It's probably not just this one. There are Doublemeat Palaces all over California. This could have been going on for years. They kill people and they have us disposing of the bodies."

"Well, there's one easy way to find out if it's human or not." Angel said. Both girls looked at him.

"What's that?" Dawn asked.

"Well…I could taste it." Angel offered. Both girls stared at him blankly. "Vampire." He reminded them. "I realize it's not bloody anymore, but…it should still work. I'll know if it's human."

Dawn made a face. "That is easily the most disgusting thing I have ever heard." She said.

"You're a genius!" Buffy cried, throwing her arms around him. "Now we just need to…where's the burger?"

Xander looked up suddenly. "You mean the burger you left on this table?" he asked, swallowing.

Buffy's face filled with a mixture of horror and anger. "Xander! You ate the burger?"

"Yeah." Xander said in a small voice. "Should I not have?"

"It's human!" Buffy cried.

Xander instantly looked sick. "You mean…well I didn't know!"

Buffy groaned. "Xander…"

"Well first you tell me that it's cat, and then you say you're joking and now you're telling me I've become an accidental cannibal?" Xander shouted. "Oh, I'm going to be sick…"

Angel patted him on the back. "Just breath, buddy."

"You're a vampire." Xander hissed, pointing at him. "You don't get to judge me on eating people."

"Hey, I just suck people's blood, I don't eat their flesh." Angel pointed out.

"Angel, you're not helping." Buffy snapped. "It's ok, we'll just get another burger. Willow probably is still at home, I'll call and ask her to buy one before they close and bring it over here."

**000000000oooooooooo000000000**

After they had been waiting for a while, Buffy was starting to get nervous. "She should be here by now." She said. "I don't like that place. What if something happened to her?"

"Relax, Buffy." Angel said soothingly. "I'm sure she'll be fine."

"But she doesn't even have magic right now to protect her." She said nervously. "If something happens she'll have no way to defend herself."

"She'll still be able to handle herself in a fight." Angel said. "She always has been."

Buffy stood up. "I'm going to the Doublemeat Palace to look for her."

Angel stood up too. "Then I'm going with you."

"No." Buffy said firmly. "I'm going alone."

"You sure as hell are not!" Angel said, grabbing her hand as she tried to walk away.

"You can't stop me." Buffy said, tugging her hand away.

"Things are different now, Buffy." Angel said. "You're pregnant. You have more to lose now than-"

"Fine." Buffy interrupted, her voice gentler now. "You're right. You can come too. Let's go."

**000000000oooooooooo000000000**

They were just down the block from the Doublemeat Palace when they saw Willow. "Buffy!" Willow cried, having seen them too. "Angel! I got the last one!" she waved a burger in the air. "I was the last customer before they closed."

"Oh, Will, you're fantastic." Buffy said as Willow reached them and handed her the burger.

Willow smiled. "Well, I try."

"Here you go, Angel." Buffy said, unwrapping the burger and handing it to him.

Angel took a bite, chewed for a second, then spit it back out again. "Oh, that is disgusting!" he cried, making a face.

"I'm guessing it's not human then?" Buffy asked.

Angel shook his head. "That's not even _meat_." He said.

"What do you mean?" Willow asked.

"I mean," Angel replied, "That's a bunch of vegetables mashed together. If there is any meat in there it's a very, very small amount, and it's certainly not human."

"Oh." Buffy said. "I guess I was imagining things."

Angel nodded, but then he noticed something. "Tell you what, though." He said. "I don't think that's supposed to happen." He pointed up the street to the Doublemeat Palace. Someone could be seen prying the door open and sneaking inside.

"No." Buffy agreed slowly. "Maybe we should go check that out."

The three of them hurried to the restaurant and followed the figure inside. Angel halted immediately. "Blood." He said in response to Willow's questioning glance. "I can smell it."

"Yeah," Buffy said, "and I can see it." The other two followed her gaze to see Manny the manager lying dead on the floor.

"That's not good." Willow said.

"Hello." A voice behind them said. They whirled around to see an old woman standing there. "Don't worry dears. It'll all be over soon. My venom paralyzes you, so there's no chance of running."

"Venom?" Angel asked. Suddenly a large tentacle sprouted from the woman's head and spit venom at Angel, who fell to the floor like a marionette. "Aw damn." He groaned. "Good job, Liam."

Buffy punched the creature. "No one and I mean no one, touches my family." She said. The creature stumbled back but quickly advanced on her again. Before Buffy could swing another punch, however, Willow suddenly bashed it in the head with a tray.

"I've got your back." She told Buffy, looking slightly breathless.

"The meat grinder!" Buffy said, and both girls lunged at the creature. Each of them grabbing one side of it, they struggled against it until they had it pressed against the meat grinder. Buffy pressed the button, and the creature let out a scream suddenly as it was sucked into the blade.

"We did it!" Willow cheered. Then she saw the ground up monster coming out of the grinder. "Oh, that's really gross…"

"I may be sick." Buffy said.

"Um, guys?" Angel spoke up. "Do you think one of you could help me up now?"

**000000000oooooooooo000000000**

**The Next Day**

Angel was about halfway through his first day of work when Spike came in. He had just finished selling a woman a pendant when the blond vampire approached the counter. "William." Spike said.

"Is you." Angel replied coolly.

"No!" Spike said. "Well, yes, but I meant as a baby name. Good name, William."

Angel stared at him for a moment, and then slowly grinned. "Oh, that is so sweet!"

"Oh, shut up, Peaches." Spike snapped.

"No, I mean it! That is the most adorable thing-"

"Forget it." Spike grumbled, turning to leave.

"Buffy's hearing about this." Angel told him.

Spike paused. "So…will you name the baby William?"

Angel shook his head. "Probably not. Still cute that you asked though." He laughed at the look on Spike's face as trudged away. He was still laughing when Buffy came in with a big smile on her face. "Hey Buffy." He said, controlling himself. "What are you so happy about?"

"I got my job back." Buffy said happily. "I start tomorrow."

**Please review!**


	13. Author's Note

**Before you kill me for this evil think I am doing, give me a chance to explain. I told myself I was never going to make an author's note chapter, but desperate times call for desperate measures. I understand how annoying it is and I apologize. **

** I'm sorry to do this, but I'm officially placing this story on hiatus until June. Not all my stories, because that would literally kill me, but this story specifically. Ok, before you kill me for **_**that**_**, let me explain. I've been working on this story a long time, and a lot has changed in my life since I started, both writing-wise and personal life-wise (yeah, I have one of those, I can't believe it either).**

**I'm currently a sophomore in high school, and let me level with you: I've never been under more pressure in my entire life. And I really don't want to hear about how it gets harder, so if those of you who are older than me could just restrain from making such comments, that would be great. Quite honestly writing stories is a practically nonexistent hobby (I really need a less time consuming hobby…), and it's looks like it's going to stay that way for a while. **

** As for this story specifically, I should tell you that my writing life is…disorganized. It's become even more so in the past year. My stuff is actually split up on two different computers. All of my earlier stuff, including everything I've ever saved for this story (which is quite a bit, actually, because my motto for this story has always been plan ahead, a plan that has only been somewhat successful), is saved on the family computer, and the writing of this note is the first non-homework contact I've had with said computer in months. Some of my newer stuff, however, is saved on my personal device, and that is what I have constant access to. The difference is that I can use any moment of spare time on my personally saved stuff, whereas the family saved stuff requires…planning. **

** I am aware that this is the lamest excuse in the world. And yes, I am aware of the existence of the ability to transfer documents. And the existence of email. But I'm leaving it like this because while I have many stories, I have two of what I like to call "major stories", which I put more work into than anything else. Conveniently, this one is on the family computer and the other is on my personal one. The fact is, I'm not currently physically capable of working on both of them, and I'd never be able to choose one over the other, some I'm letting this problem decide for me. Thus, this story is on hiatus and the Chameleon series is not. **

** But let me stress that this is a HIATUS. I fully intend to finish this story eventually. I am not going to leave you all hanging like this forever. I've put a lot of work into this and I'm not going to stop now. As soon as life calms down, whenever that may be, I'm coming back. I still love this story, that hasn't changed. This hurts me just as much as it hurts you. My favorite ideas are yet to come, and you'll get them eventually. This is not over and you'll hear from me again.**

** Because the great thing about school? You get three months off in the summer.**

** Yours, Thalia Grace DaughterofZeus13 **


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